Adoption and Implementation of articles 47 to 50 of the Fourth Directive The Slovak Case Katarína Kaszasová Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic REPARIS Workshops on Accounting and Audit Regulation, Vienna, March 2006

AGENDA Slovak Republic Articles 47 to 50 of the Fourth Directive Adoption and Implementation Lessons learned

Slovak Republic 01/01/1993 (split of Czechoslovakia) 5,3 mil. of habitants EU member since 1 May 2004 Key figures for 2005:  GDP: appr. 9,7 bln. of Euros)  Economic growth: appr. 6% Country of reforms

Slovak Republic Accounting and Auditing Reform Act on Accounting Accounting Procedures Application of IFRS since 2005 (consolidated financial statements) and since 2006 (individual financial statements)

Articles 47 to 50 of the Fourth Directive Summary Publication of: The full annual accounts + the annual report + audit opinion – articles 47(1), 48 and 50 The abridged balance sheet + the abridged notes (relieve from the obligation to publish profit and loss accounts, annual reports and audit opinion) – articles 47(2), 49 and 50

Article 47(1) The annual accounts, duly approved, and the annual report, together with the opinion submitted by the person responsible for auditing the accounts, shall be published as laid down by the laws of each Member State in accordance with Article 3 of Directive 68/151/EEC.

Article 47(2) Member States may permit the companies … to publish: Abridged balance sheet Abridged notes on their accounts In addition, the Member States may relieve such companies from obligation to publish their profit and loss accounts and annual reports and the opinions of the persons responsible for auditing the accounts Items and information requested are specifically stated

Article 48 Whenever the annual accounts and the annual report are published in full, they must be reproduced in the form and text on the basis of which the person responsible for auditing the accounts has drawn up his opinion. They must be accompanied by the full text of his report. If the person responsible for auditing the accounts made any qualification of refused to report upon the accounts, the fact must be disclosed and the reason given.

Article 49 If the annual accounts are not published in full, it must be indicated that the version published is abridged and reference must be made to the register in which the accounts have been filed … The report issued by the person responsible for auditing the accounts may not accompany this publication, but it must be disclosed whether the report was issued with or without qualification, or was refused.

Article 50 The following must be published together with the annual accounts, and in like manner: The proposed appropriation of the profit or treatment of the loss, The appropriation of the profit or treatment of the loss, where these items do not appear in the annual accounts

Articles 47 to 50 of the Fourth Directive Adoption and Implementation General approach: Adoption of those articles which contain obligations for member states, no relieves from the publication obligations implemented Preparation and publication of abridged financial statements is not allowed in Slovakia Act on Accounting, Article 21 – Publication

“Full” publication articles 47(1), 48 and 50 obligation to file in the Collection of deeds of the Commercial Register  WHO? All companies, Export-Import Bank, cooperatives or state-owned enterprises  WHAT? Individual and consolidated financial statements, and annual report (FS may be filed as part of the annual report, annual report shall contain the auditors' report on these FS )  WHEN? Within 30 days of approval of the financial statements

“Full” publication articles 47(1), 48 and 50 obligation to publish on the Internet (in addition to filing in the Collection of deeds of the Commercial Register):  WHO? All companies which prepare financial statements in accordance with IFRS  WHAT? Individual and consolidated financial statements  HOW LONG? for at least one year of their publication

“Abridged” publication articles 47(2), 49 and 50 Not applicable for Slovakia

“Incomplete” publication Act on Accountancy, §21 Incomplete ≠ Abridged In addition to “full” publication in Commercial Register and company web site, there is an obligation to publish in the Commercial Bulletin:  Balance sheet + income statement + information about the contents and type of auditor's opinion (the accounting entity shall also state that it has published incomplete FS)  the Internet website on which the financial statements are published

Lessons learned Adoption of Council Directives Fines for the violations Compromise between demand on information and costs of obtaining – impact on accounting entities Project of the Central Register

Information and Contacts Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic Štefanovičova 5 P.O.Box Bratislava 15 Slovak Republic Katarína Kaszasová tel: Director Generalfax: State Reporting