A parent may leave an acquired or merged undertaking, or a subsidiary that leaves the group, out of that year's consolidated sustainability information, provided it discloses any significant event that affected the subsidiary and the group's impacts, risks or opportunities.
The requirement, in our words
Where the group changes during the year through an acquisition or merger, the parent may leave the acquired or merged undertakings out of that year's consolidated sustainability information, and it may likewise leave out any subsidiary that leaves the group during the year. A parent using either option must still point out any significant event affecting that subsidiary during the year that bears on the group's sustainability impacts, risks or opportunities.
Why it matters
The option solves a real timing problem: a group can acquire a company late in the year and have no sustainability data for it. The price of the option is the significant-event note. It does not allow the group to ignore a material event; it allows the group to leave the entity out of the consolidated statement while explaining what happened.
What changed
Article 29a gains paragraph 4a. It did not exist in the old text, so a group that used a practical expedient before now has a legal basis, with a disclosure condition.
What to do
- Keep a perimeter change log with each acquisition, merger and disposal and its date.
- Decide for each change whether the option is used and record the reason.
- Write the significant-event note for each excluded entity.
Evidence to have ready
| Category | Artefact |
|---|---|
| Group reporting | Perimeter change log listing acquisitions, mergers and disposals with dates and whether the option was used |
| Group reporting | Consolidated report note describing significant events at excluded subsidiaries |
| Group reporting | Board or disclosure committee decision applying the option for the year |
Common failures
- Acquired subsidiary excluded in the year after the acquisition, beyond what the option permits
- Material incident at an excluded subsidiary not mentioned
Dates
Applies to consolidated financial years starting on or after 1 January 2027.
The question to test
Does the note explain the significant event and its effect, or does it only say the entity was excluded?
Cross-references
A2-8 Consolidated statement threshold · A2-11 Financial holding option
Source
Article 2(5)(c), inserting Article 29a(4a) of Directive 2013/34/EU; OJ L 2026/470, 26 February 2026; https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32026L0470. Our statement of the duty, read from the Official Journal text and the held control record, not the instrument verbatim.
Not legal advice; does not certify. A reading of the duty and the evidence commonly sampled, not a substitute for the Official Journal text, the national transposing measure or your auditor's judgement.