The update, Enterprise Risk Management — Aligning Risk with Strategy and Performance, is designed to address the needs of all organizations to improve their approach to managing new and existing risks as a way to help create, preserve, sustain and realize value.

The update reflects the critical importance of the connection between strategy and performance, offers perspective on current and evolving concepts and applications of enterprise risk management, and updates the core definitions of risk and enterprise risk management. One of the most significant enhancements is the introduction of components and supporting principles that reflect the evolution of risk management thinking and practices.

COSO has expanded its website, www.COSO.org, with a section on the Framework update that includes the proposed Framework, survey and comment tools, and FAQs about the project, details of the most significant updates and how to respond to the survey. The site also includes a video that features four members of the Advisory Council addressing the ERM update process and the importance of obtaining input from a variety of risk professionals about the proposed changes.

Comments on the proposal are due by September 30, 2016. For more information, see the press release and proposal on COSO’s Web site.

“The GRI G4 Guidelines are already the most widely used framework for sustainability reporting in the world. Our transition to Standards is designed to scale up our reach even further,’ said Eric Hespenheide, Chair of the Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB). “The improved structure, format and presentation of GRI Standards, as well as the fact that individual Standards can be used alone, will open up reporting to thousands of organizations that have not yet begun disclosing their broader economic, environmental and social impacts. We are also transitioning from periodic to continual updates of GRI Standards, as market and stakeholder demands evolve.”

Organizations preparing a sustainability report ‘in accordance’ with the GRI Standards will select only the relevant topic-specific Standards, based on their material topics. However, the Standards can also be used and referenced independently, to allow reporting on a specific sustainability subject. This will give reporting organizations more flexibility and make sustainability reporting more accessible for new reporters, including small and medium-sized enterprises.

The second set of exposure drafts comprises 30 topic-specific draft standards each covering a separate sustainability topic such as anti-corruption, emissions, biodiversity, or child labor. They are open for comment until 17 July 2016. Please click to access the exposure drafts and a corresponding press release on the GRI's Web site.

While the Act as passed is very similar to the earlier version, one of the key changes will be enhanced accountability and public reporting on the cap-and-trade proceeds. For instance, the money raised will go to a Greenhouse Gas Reduction Account to invest in programs that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and the minister is now required to make a report available to the public each year on initiatives that are funded from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Account.

Review the Act and the article on the Norton Rose Fulbright's Web site.

While Carrots & Sticks first and foremost provides a summarized quantitative overview of the current landscape of reporting instruments, the Annual Report recognizes that there are unanswered questions. As the Advisory Committee noted, questions can be asked about the impact, context and drivers behind each instrument, and the sector or economy in which it is issued.

For example, how effective are these instruments? How successful is action by governments in achieving their objectives? What is the quality of the reported information that results from these instruments? How valuable is the information in terms of enhancing transparency and accountability? To what extent does the reporting bring us closer to the sustainable world envisioned by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development?

Please click to access the 2016 edition of Carrots & Sticks.

Traditionally the financial audit process has been opaque, operating in a black box environment with only a pass or fail judgement rendered by the auditor on an annual basis.

However, there has been a growing realization that increasing transparency into the audit process would be of benefit to audit committees, investors and other stakeholders.

A number of initiatives are underway internationally in order to increase transparency into the audit process. This publication outlines two initiatives: audit quality indicators (AQls) and transparency reporting.

Review the publication on the CPAB's Web site.

Traditionally the financial audit process has been opaque, operating in a black box environment with only a pass or fail judgement rendered by the auditor on an annual basis.

However, there has been a growing realization that increasing transparency into the audit process could benefit audit committees, investors and other stakeholders.

A number of initiatives are underway internationally to increase transparency into the audit process. The publication outlines two initiatives: enhanced auditor reporting and enhanced audit committee reporting.

Review the publication on the CPAB's Web site.

The CPAB has heard from audit committees that IT risk is a growing priority for boards and audit committees, yet they often feel ill-equipped to perform their oversight role in this area. Understanding the risks of the organization and asking the right questions of external auditors, internal auditors and management can help audit committees manage its IT risks and protect its information assets more effectively.

Review the publication on the CPAB's Web site.

At December 31, 2015, 286 audit firms were registered with CPAB. During 2015, CPAB inspected 39 firms in total and 179 engagement files. For the 14 firms inspected annually, CPAB inspected 144 files and identified significant inspection findings in 43 of these files. In addition, CPAB inspected 35 files at 25 other firms and identified significant inspection findings in 28 files.

The majority of CPAB’s total significant inspection findings in 2015 required the audit firm to carry out additional audit procedures to verify there was no need to restate the financial statements due to material error. The remaining findings required the audit firms to add considerable evidence to the audit file to show they had obtained sufficient and appropriate audit evidence with respect to a major balance sheet item or transaction stream. The results of carrying out additional audit procedures resulted in 11 restatements or six per cent of files inspected.

Review the Annual Report on the CPAB's Web site.

The majority of CPAB's total significant inspection findings in 2015 required the audit firm to carry out additional audit procedures to determine the need, if any, to restate the financial statements due to material error. The remaining findings required the audit firms to add considerable evidence to the audit file to show they had obtained sufficient and appropriate audit evidence with respect to a major balance sheet item or transaction stream.

The following audit quality themes noted in CPAB's November 2015 inspections report on the Big Four accounting firms also apply to the other firms inspected this year:

• Executing audit fundamentals
• Understanding business processes relevant to financial reporting
• Complex accounting estimates
• Internal controls
• Professional judgment and skepticism
• Identification of accounting issues

Review the press release, the Annual Inspections Report and the Highlights for Audit Committees on the CPAB's Web site.

The budget proposes $120 billion of investment in infrastructure and job creation over the next ten years, including significant investments in public transit, clean technology, and First Nations, Inuit Peoples and the Metis Nation.

Some of the key features of the budget plan were:

• Mr. Morneau indicated that the deficit for 2015-2016 will be $5.4 billion while a deficit of $29.4 billion is predicted for 2016-2017. The deficit is projected to decline gradually reaching $14.3 billion by 2020-2021.
• This budget proposes to keep the small business tax rate at 10.5 percent after 2016 rather than reducing this rate to 9% by 2019 as announced in the previous budget.
• Where the exception to the deemed association corporation rules applies (i.e., an election not to be associated is made or the third corporation is not a CCPC), the budget proposes to make investment income derived from an associated corporation’s active business ineligible for the small business deduction and taxable at the general corporate tax rate.
• This budget contains proposals regarding certain recommendations of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) as set out in its final reports on its base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) initiative, released in October 2015. 

A summary of the economic and tax highlights contained in the budget is outlined in our Canadian tax alert. 

For further details, we refer you to the Ministry of Finance website.