ESEF Readiness Kit: How to Prepare for the ESMA Mandate

Key Takeaways

Make sure you are prepared for the new requirements the ESEF will bring to your annual reports—don’t leave it to chance. Use this checklist to understand what steps you need to take to get ready. Plus, see how you can simplify your ESEF workflow.

• Discover which steps you should take to prepare now and all the way until you are ready for submission
• See how the ESEF reporting workflow can be simplified with Workiva
• Explore key questions you need to answer as you prepare for your first ESEF filing

The ESMA mandate
The European Single Electronic Format (ESEF) is a regulation specified by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA). The ESMA mandate covers all issuers on EU regulated markets. These companies have to file their report in XHTML, which means no PDF or scanned documents. 

Greater transparency
The key driver for the ESEF is greater transparency. The Transparency Directive requires standardised reporting, consistently structured and accessible across different storage mechanisms. 

In addition, companies with consolidated IFRS financial statements are required to include Inline XBRL^® within the XHTML, which makes the report machine-readable. This file must be placed with the local regulators and be publicly available. 

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