What is the European Single Electronic Format (ESEF)?
The European Single Electronic Format (ESEF) is the latest digital model that public listed companies on EU regulated markets must use when filing their annual financial reports.
The new requirement of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), which will come into force on January 1st, 2022, arises to facilitate the communication of information, accessibility, analysis, and comparability of the organizations’ annual financial reports.
Therefore, to comply with the Directive 2013/50/EU and the ESEF, your organization must adopt a technological solution that allows the generation of documents in XHTML format, also using built-in bookmarks in iXBRL, which can be originated from Word, Excel, and Portable Document Format (PDF).
Please find all the official information about the Regulation here.
The Challenge with Compliance
In an environment of constant legislative change – which, as a rule, follows the evolution of technology and the way individuals and businesses use it -, your organization is subject to significantly increasing annual investments in compliance actions.
If you do not ensure that the operation complies with the law, you are not only subject to risking your organization’s good reputation but may also be the target of high fines. In this sense and with a long-term view, you should invest in an agile solution that facilitates the process, annuls the need to hire specialized human resources, and has a technological basis that allows the integration of additional modules for future compliance actions.