World leaders likely to make more ESG reporting mandatory
COP26 might be experiencing its own logistics problems, with delegates queuing for hours to get in and a foreign energy minister unable to access the venue because she is a wheelchair user, but the early spotlight at the conference has fallen on supply chains. Already one of the key takeaways from the global climate summit in Glasgow will be a need for businesses to pay much closer attention to supply chain due diligence as countries commit to more mandatory ESG reporting.
World leaders agreed a significant deal to tackle deforestation, committing billions of funding to restore degraded land, protect forests and mitigate damage. The UK is already pushing ahead with regulation to tackle deforestation. The Environment Bill currently going through parliament includes provisions to require large companies to undertake supply chain due diligence and report on the risks of deforestation in their supply chains.
Mental Health: Wellbeing at Work shortlisted for Healthcare Excellence award
The sixth annual Zenith Global Health Awards will be held in London in November, celebrating excellence and innovation among healthcare professionals. VinciWorks’ online course Mental Health: Wellbeing at Work will be among finalists, nominated alongside some of the world’s leading doctors and healthcare professionals.
The awards are set up by healthcare professionals to acknowledge and celebrate fellow healthcare and allied healthcare professionals for their commitment and dedication which is seldom acknowledged. Zenith nominees are based on merit and evidence of achievements and positive impact on healthcare delivery, practice or workforce.
UK first G20 country to require ESG reporting on TCFD
Ahead of COP26, the UK has announced it will become the first country to pass legislation to mandate climate change TCFD disclosures for Britain’s largest companies and financial institutions from April 2022. The Taskforce on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) is an environmental reporting framework which helps companies report consistent climate risks and opportunities, forming part of a broader effort to standardise ESG reporting which is only likely to increase after Glasgow.
The new requirements will come into effect on 6 April 2022, and require over 1,300 of the largest UK-registered businesses required to disclose climate-related financial information. This will include many of the largest companies, including banks, insurers as well as private businesses with over 500 employees and £500 million in turnover.
TCFD is an industry-led group which helps investors understand the financial impact of climate risks. It was launched at COP21 in Paris in 2015, and the adoption of it as part of the UK’s company disclosure information will help ensure the largest companies are required to think seriously about the risks of climate change. They will have to consider emission reduction plans and sustainability programmes, and go beyond paying lip service to the UK’s net-zero commitments.
In a significant move by the international anti-money laundering body the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), Turkey, alongside Mali and Jordan, have been added to the watchdog’s grey list. This comes on the back of a “large number of serious issues” identified in the countries’ mutual evaluations in 2019.
Although the FATF president Marcus Pleyer admitted that Turkey has made “some progress” since 2019, including the establishment of a beneficial ownership registry, there were still a great deal of money laundering deficiencies to address.
The three countries join a 22-state list of countries subject to special monitoring, including Albania, Morocco, Syria and Yemen. However the FATF removed Botswana and Mauritius from the grey list, citing increased improvements.
ESG – environmental, social and governance – are three factors that businesses can use to measure their net impact on the world. Broader than profit and loss, more detailed than corporate social responsibility, ESG reviews, details and documents how a company impacts on the environment, on society and people, and their own corporate governance.
What is the main purpose of ESG?
A myriad of factors can make up an ESG report. Some stretch to over 1,000 individual data points, from carbon emissions to the proportion of women on the board to how frequently a company undertakes bribery training. Many businesses are no longer working on environmental, social and governance issues in a silo. They are bringing them together under the banner of ESG to demonstrate the positive impact their existence is having on the world.
Bringing these disparate risks together helps a company prioritise their impact on the world. It helps them understand the risks they face, and it shows stakeholders they are taking the time to conduct due diligence and mitigation measures on those risks.
The Irish Revenue’s Tax and Duty Manual Part 33-03-04 was updated in October 2021. The main amendments relate to Sections 3.2 and 4.2 which now include updated screenshots and guidance. This was necessary following the Irish Revenue releasing a new XSD schema in July 2021 reflecting the UK’s exit from the European Union. Most EU Member States have been updating their XML schemas in response to the amended DAC6 Central Directory Business Validation Rules by the European Commission.
We are pleased to announce that EssentialSkillz has been acquired by Marlowe plc, the UK leader in business-critical services and software which assure safety and regulatory compliance.
Marlowe plc are an ambitious company listed on the London Stock Exchange. EssentialSkillz will act as a platform for Marlowe’s compliance software businesses as a key part of its governance, risk and compliance division. More information on Marlowe plc can be found at: www.marloweplc.com/about.
EssentialSkillz remains unchanged and will continue operating in the same way from the same location. The existing staff and senior management team will also remain unchanged, it will be business as usual.
This is an exciting move forward for EssentialSkillz and brings considerable benefits to our customers through the scale and breadth of services offered by the wider group. We look forward to providing the same excellent service to yourselves as part of the Marlowe Group.
What is the EU list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions?
The EU list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions is a list of jurisdictions that do not comply with all international tax standards. The list includes jurisdictions that do not yet comply but have committed to implementing reforms that will bring them to compliance. The aim of the list is not to shame the countries that appear, but rather to encourage positive change in their tax legislation and practices. Once a jurisdiction does meet all criteria to be considered cooperative for tax purposes, it is removed from the list.
October 2021 updated EU list
On 5 October 2021 the Council of the European Union released a revised list of EU non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes.
The EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes is a tool to tackle:
tax fraud or evasion: illegal non-payment or underpayment of tax
tax avoidance: use of legal means to minimise tax liability
money laundering: concealment of origins of illegally obtained money
The list contains non-EU countries that encourage abusive tax practices, which erode member states’ corporate tax revenues and underlines the importance of promoting and strengthening of tax good governance mechanisms, fair taxation, global tax transparency and fight against tax fraud, evasion and avoidance, both at the EU level and globally.
The updated EU list is important when considering DAC6 Hallmark D1 which captures arrangements where it is reasonable to conclude that these may have the effect of undermining reporting obligations under Council Directive 2014/107/EU (‘DAC 2’) and the Common Reporting Standard (‘CRS’), as implemented in the domestic legislation of EU Member States.
EU list as of April 2022
The Council of the European Union released a revised list of EU non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes on 24 February, 2022. The document that includes the list states that it underscores the importance of advancing and strengthening good tax governance mechanisms, tax fairness, global tax transparency and the fight against tax evasion at both the EU and global level.
The council welcomes the ongoing tax cooperation between the EU Code of Conduct group and most countries and territories, welcomes the progress made in certain previously less cooperative states and territories, and invites the countries and territories that remain on the list to consult with the Code of Conduct group to resolve outstanding issues. The conclusions specifically mention Turkey, recognising the country’s progress and calling on them to continue to do the work necessary to become fully compliant with the requirements.
How VinciWorks can help?
Tax departments in all organisations need to keep to strict deadlines for tax obligations such as corporation tax, payroll and VAT payments. This often gets even more challenging when dealing with multiple jurisdictions.
Omnitrack, VinciWorks’ data collection tool, allows you to record, manage and complete all tax filing requirements. From setting filing deadlines, choosing a warning notice period and recording the obligation fulfilment, Omnitrack has you covered. Get in touch with us to see how Omnitrack can help your business.
Bribery can have serious legal and reputational consequences for your organisation and, in some countries, organisations can even be prosecuted for failing to prevent employees from committing offences. But demonstrating that there were adequate procedures in place to prevent bribery could be crucial to a defence in ‘failure to prevent’ proceedings. A gift and hospitality (G&H) register is one such procedure. A comprehensive gifts and hospitality register can also help organisations keep their accounting records up to date.
To help your organisation get up to speed, VinciWorks has created a guide on best practice guidance for gift and hospitality registers. The guide features an introduction to gift and hospitality registers, which answers questions such as what they are and who needs them, and offers six tips for implementing a G&H register.
In September 2020, the International Standards on Quality Management approved the ISQM 1, ISQM 2, and the International Standard on Auditing, ISA 220 Revised. The three Quality Management Standards are the culmination of the response of the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) to a series of high-profile audit failures.
