ESMA considers the following key topics to be especially relevant for the examinations of listed companies' financial statements:

• impact of financial markets conditions on financial statements;
• statement of cash flows and related disclosures; and
• fair value measurement and related disclosures.

ESMA notes that these topics were chosen based on the recurrence of issues in the application of certain IFRS requirements identified when reviewing financial statements. They are also posing particular challenges in the current economic environment where some reference interest rates and the market prices of a number of commodities have decreased significantly and continue to be highly volatile while some exchange rates have fluctuated significantly.

ESMA and European national enforcers will monitor and supervise the application of the IFRS requirements outlined in the priorities, with national authorities incorporating them into their reviews and taking corrective actions where appropriate. ESMA will collect data on how European listed entities have applied the Priorities and will publish its findings in early 2017.

Please click for the following documents on the ESMA website.

• Press release
• Public statement on enforcement priorities, providing more background on each of the focus areas