| Extent of IFRS application | Status | Additional Information |
|---|---|---|
| IFRS Accounting Standards are required for domestic public companies | All domestic companies whose securities trade in a regulated market are required to use IFRS Standards as adopted by the EU in their consolidated financial statements. | |
| IFRS Accounting Standards are permitted but not required for domestic public companies | ||
| IFRS Accounting Standards are required or permitted for listings by foreign companies | IFRS Standards as adopted by the EU are required in their consolidated financial statements except that a foreign company whose home jurisdiction’s standards are deemed by the EU to be equivalent to IFRS Standards may use its home standards. | |
| The IFRS for SMEs Accounting Standard is required or permitted | No. | |
| The IFRS for SMEs Accounting Standard is under consideration | No. |
Profile last updated: 18 July 2016
RELEVANT JURISDICTIONAL AUTHORITY
The OIC was formed in 2001 as a registered foundation, in response to the need perceived by the main public-sector and private-sector parties to establish a national standard setter that would be appropriately representative and would voice national opinions on accounting matters. The OIC Founders include organisations broadly representing the parties interested in accounting matters, including the accounting and auditing professions, preparers, industry associations, users such as analysts and data collectors, and representatives of the financial markets. The OIC mission is to:
- issue Italian accounting standards;
- respond to IFRS Foundation (Trustee, IASB Board, IFRS IC ) consultations and to participate at IASB meetings and EFRAG meetings;
- co-operate with the legislator in accounting matters; and
- act as promoter of the national accounting culture.
COMMITMENT TO GLOBAL FINANCIAL REPORTING STANDARDS
Yes. Refer to the IAS Regulation adopted by the European Union in 2002.
Yes. Refer to the IAS Regulation adopted by the European Union in 2002.
As a member state of the European Union, Italy is subject to IAS Regulation adopted by the European Union in 2002:
ec.europa.eu/internal_market/accounting/legal_framework/ias_regulation_en.htmThe EU IAS Regulation requires application of IFRS Standards as adopted by the EU for the consolidated financial statements of European companies whose securities trade in a regulated securities market starting in 2005. The EU IAS Regulation gives member states the option to require or permit IFRS Standards as adopted by the EU in separate company financial statements (statutory accounts) and/or in the financial statements of companies whose securities do not trade on a regulated securities market. See the Profile for the European Union for more detailed information about the EU IAS Regulation.
- Bond Vision Market
- Electronic Open-End Funds and ETC Market
- Market For Investment Vehicles (MIV)
- Electronic Bond Market
- Electronic Share Market
- MTS Government Market
- MTS Corporate Market
- Securitised Derivatives Market
- Italian Derivatives Market
In Italy, the status of application of IFRS Standards adopted by the EU (EU IFRS Standards) for domestic companies can be summarised as follows:
1. | Companies whose securities are traded on the Italian regulated stock exchange are required to apply the EU IFRS Standards in their consolidated financial statements (as required by the EU IAS Regulation) and in their separate financial statements. |
2. | Banks, financial institutions, and issuers of financial instruments widely distributed among the public are required to apply the EU IFRS Standards in their consolidated financial statements and separate financial statements. This applies whether or not the company’s securities are traded on a regulated exchange. |
3. | Insurance companies are required to apply the EU IFRS Standards only in the consolidated financial statements. However, if the insurance company is listed and does not prepare consolidated financial statements because it has no subsidiaries, application of the EU IFRS Standards is mandatory in the preparation of its individual financial statements. |
4. | Companies not listed above, except ‘small entities’ (SEs) as defined by the Italian Civil Code, are permitted to apply the EU IFRS Standards in their consolidated financial statements and/or in their individual/separate financial statements. |
SEs are companies whose securities are not admitted to trading on a regulated market and that do not exceed certain quantity thresholds.
EXTENT OF IFRS APPLICATION
For DOMESTIC companies whose debt or equity securities trade in a public market in the jurisdiction:
For FOREIGN companies whose debt or equity securities trade in a public market in the jurisdiction:
Required for some and permitted for others. Foreign companies whose securities trade in a regulated market in Italy (and generally in the EU) are required to report under IFRS Standards as adopted by the EU in their consolidated financial statements unless the European Commission has deemed their accounting standards to be equivalent to IFRS Standards, in which case they may use their local standards. Further details may be found on the ‘Financial Reporting’ page of the European Commission’s website.
IFRS ENDORSEMENT
TRANSLATION OF IFRS ACCOUNTING STANDARDS
Yes.
The European Union has 24 official and working languages. They are: Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish and Swedish. Before they are published in the Official Journal of the European Union, and therefore become binding under EU law, individual IFRS Standards must be translated into all of those languages (other than English and Irish). Those translations are published in the Official Journal of the European Union pursuant to a copyright waiver agreement with the IFRS Foundation.
The IFRS Foundation also produces an ‘official translation’ into Italian as described below.
Pursuant to a copyright waiver agreement with the Directorate-General for Translation of the European Commission, the Commission takes care of the translation into the official languages according to their own translation process. The translation only covers the standards and mandatory guidance, which is then published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
In addition, some countries (usually the standard setter or institute) have a translation contract with the IFRS Foundation to produce an ‘official translation’ for publication of a bound volume of IFRS Standards (usually the ‘Red Book’) and publication, in some cases, of individual standards and exposure drafts.
The IFRS Foundation published a bound volume of IFRS Standards in Italian in 2009.
