DTI amends financial reporting regs

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has announced a new series of regulations amending the accounting and reporting requirements for companies, including measures affecting some small businesses.

Three sets of regulations have been laid before Parliament to extend the option to prepare and distribute summary financial statements from listed companies to all companies that have had their accounts audited. They also ensure that companies preparing their accounts in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards can continue to use summary financial statements.

In addition, these regulations make a number of other minor amendments concerning voluntary revision of the Operating and Financial Review and Directors' Remuneration Report, the requirements for adjustment and disclosure of corresponding amounts and the distribution provisions as they apply to investment companies.

Small businesses

The regulations also include certain limited simplifications for specific categories of small company.

The changes for certain smaller companies will:

• allow small financial services companies engaged in insurance mediation or mortgage advisory activities to exempt themselves from statutory audit;
  
• for small companies that are part of groups, bring forward to years beginning on or after 1 January 2005 the effective date for directors' report exemptions; and
  
• restore exemptions for disclosure of staff particulars that were inadvertently removed in earlier structural changes to the Companies Act 1985.

The regulations come into force on October 1, 2005 (with the exception of the changes for small financial services companies, which come into force on September 5, 2005).