EU Passes the Implementation of Non-Financial Reporting Law
Copenhagen Compliance has developed assessment tools,
templates, framework and guidelines to help companies implement the new
directive in a structured and uniform way for continuous disclosure improvement
with features to enhance the quality of reporting.1
The European Union has adopted its first
law requiring disclosure of non-financial information by large companies.
About 6,000 large companies and groups will be affected by the new law,
which requires the inclusion of environmental, human rights, diversity,
anti-corruption, and anti-bribery information in annual reports. Additional
information focuses on the company's diversity policies, including age,
gender, educational level, and professional background of administrative
and management staff as well as boards of directors.
The quality enhancing components of our framework will boost transparency,
and corporate social responsibility processes without placing an undue
administrative burden on the compliance officers.
We believe that the proper disclosure of non-financial information will
enhance the accountability of large firms towards corporate citizenship
and allow stakeholders to use socially responsible business conduct and
promoting sustainable growth as an incentive.
Country by country tax reports
The directive 2affects public interest entities with more than
500 employees. Those entities are listed companies, banks, insurance firms,
and other undertakings deemed to have significant public relevance because
of their size, status, or nature of their business. Small and midsize
enterprises are exempt from the new rules.
Companies falling under the new directive also may be required to include
country by country tax reports for any country in which they operate,
including information on profits earned, taxes paid on those profits,
and any public subsidies received. The European Commission is expected
to make its recommendation on the country-specific tax reports by 2018,
which is a separate issue from new reporting mandates for companies in
the extractives industry.
Member States will have two years to transpose the non-financial reporting
directive into national law. The first reports will be required for the
2017 financial year.
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_Data/docs/pressdata/en/intm/144945.pdf
http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/accounting/non-financial_reporting/index_en.htm
