Policy paper

European Single Electronic Format (ESEF) Regulation requirements: the government's position

The government's position on the ESEF (European Single Electronic Format) Regulation requirements.

• From: Department for Business and Trade and Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy
• Published: 1 June 2020
• Last updated: 9 December 2020 — See all updates

This was published under the 2019 to 2022 Johnson Conservative government

Documents

The UK government’s position on the effect of the ESEF Regulation

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The European Commission published a Delegated Regulation on use of the European Single Electronic Format (ESEF) on 29 May 2019 (the ESEF Regulation).

This note sets out the government’s position on the directors’ and possible auditor’s sign-off of accounts of those companies that are subject to the requirements of the ESEF Regulation and the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules sourcebook).

This note also addresses whether directors and auditors must consider the Inline eXtensible Business Reporting Language (iXBRL) tagging when confirming that the accounts meet the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 and give a true and fair view of the company’s financial position.

The contents of this note should not be considered to be legal advice - if in doubt companies should seek their own legal advice.

This note was updated in December 2020 to reflect:

• the announcement by the FCA that the ESEF requirements for filing and publication of machine-readable accounts and mandatory tagging of basic financial information will be postponed so that they will apply to financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2021
• the government’s decision not to implement a mandatory auditor reporting requirement on the electronic formatting of accounts as part of the application of the Regulation
• the publication by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) of the UKSEF taxonomy
• the end of the transition period that has applied as part of the UK’s exit from the European Union

Published 1 June 2020
Last updated 9 December 2020 + show all updates

1. 9 December 2020

   This note was updated to reflect: the announcement that initial ESEF requirements will be postponed; the government’s decision on an auditor reporting requirement on electronic formatting; and the end of the transition period for EU exit.

2. 1 June 2020

   First published.