Firm Culture and Governance

The objective of the project is to develop a culture and governance framework that promotes, supports and reinforces a high standard of ethical behavior by a firm's leadership, other partners, and staff across all of the firm’s services, thereby helping the firm develop a reputation as a highly ethical firm, mitigate the risks of unethical behavior and strengthen public trust and confidence in all of its services.

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IESBA September 2025 Meeting Highlights

The IESBA considered and shared views on draft IESBA “Viewpoints” on the eight elements of the FCG framework identified in the project proposal. The IESBA supported the Project Team’s approach to the Viewpoints, being that they are:

• Principles-based, actionable, and capable of driving practical outcomes with regards to supporting and reinforcing ethical culture within firms.
• Drafted at an appropriately high-level to take into consideration the diversity of firms, jurisdictions and regulatory and oversight frameworks.
• To be used to undertake further engagement with stakeholders during the first half of 2026 as a basis to inform the IESBA’s further consideration of the way forward regarding the development of the framework.

The IESBA asked the Project Team to develop a contextual piece to explain the nature and purpose of the Viewpoints as part of the process to develop the FCG framework.

The IESBA also explored field testing of the Viewpoints and agreed to further consider the matter at its December 2025 meeting, following agreement on the Viewpoints. In addition, the IESBA acknowledged the importance of clearly explaining the connectivity between the Viewpoints and the IAASB’s International Standard on Quality Management 1 (ISQM 1).[1]

Finally, the IESBA was supportive of the Project Team’s preliminary plan for non-authoritative material (NAM) and other supporting materials and initiatives, initially covering the period through Q2 2026.

At its December 2025 meeting, the IESBA will consider the revised Viewpoints with a view to agreeing them for purposes of stakeholder engagement in the first half of 2026, as well as the Project Team’s updated plan for NAM and other supporting materials and initiatives. The IESBA will also consider a draft of a linkage document between the Viewpoints and ISQM 1 as well as the draft contextual piece for the Viewpoints.

In anticipation of this timeline, the IESBA agreed to meet virtually in October 2025 to progress consideration of select draft Viewpoints and an initial draft of the contextual piece.