On 11 July 2014, the European Commission published a consultation paper seeking views on the potential economic consequences of country-by-country reporting under the Capital Requirements Directive ("CRD") which requires banks and investment firms to disclose key information on their business, on a country-by-country basis. From 1 July 2014, firms were required to publish information on their name(s), nature of activities, geographical location, turnover and number of employees on a full time equivalent basis. From 1 January 2015 firms will be required to publish information on their profit or loss before tax, tax on profit or loss and public subsidies received ("sensitive information"). The Commission must report, before 31 December 2014, to the European Parliament and the Council of the EU on any potential negative consequences of the sensitive information disclosures, including any effects on competitiveness, investment and credit availability and the stability of the financial system. If any potential negative consequences are identified, the Commission may prepare a legislative proposal to amend CRD, including deferring the disclosure obligation. The consultation closes on 12 September 2014.
The consultation paper is available at: http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/consultations/2014/country-by-country-crd4/docs/consultation-document_en.pdf.
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