Reinforcing Ethics and the Public Interest in a Rapidly Evolving World
This digitally interactive report looks back at 2022 through the eyes of the IESBA, complete with detailed reports on the Board’s projects alongside reflective remarks from its leaders.
The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) plays a vital role in driving the development, adoption, and implementation of transparent and high-quality international standards. These standards for audit and assurance, ethics and independence, education, and public sector accounting are used by professional accountants and serve as a fundamental pillar within the global financial architecture.
The World Bank, an institution dedicated to providing financing, policy advice, and technical assistance to governments of developing countries, recently extended significant financial support to expand the accessibility of certain materials (noted below) into Spanish and French. This support broadens the availability of these publications to IFAC’s global audience and their stakeholders, and helps to promote greater economic growth, development, and accountability.
In jurisdictions where English is not an official or business language, one of the primary obstacles to successful adoption and implementation of international standards is the lack of access to translations in local languages. IFAC takes proactive steps to tackle this challenge by collaborating with member organizations in leveraging their technical expertise to provide translation support, as well as engaging with donors to help further facilitate the translation process.
IFAC CEO Kevin Dancey said, “IFAC thanks the World Bank and our member organizations for their generous financial support in expanding the accessibility of multilingual materials. Your invaluable contribution has made a profound impact on our efforts to foster the adoption and implementation of international standards on a global scale. Consequently, this will pave the way for driving progress, bolstering economic stability, and ensuring responsible financial practices worldwide.”
About IFAC IFAC is the global organization for the accountancy profession dedicated to serving the public interest by strengthening the profession and contributing to the development of strong international economies. IFAC is comprised of 180 members and associates in more than 135 jurisdictions, representing more than 3 million accountants in public practice, education, government service, industry, and commerce.
The endorsement by International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) of IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards S1 and S2, and its call to action to its member jurisdictions, are most welcome developments in the ever-important sustainability space.
We commend the IFRS Foundation, the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), and IOSCO who are dedicated to maintaining fair, efficient and transparent markets. Promoting consistent and comparable climate-related and other sustainability-related information is an important component of this work.
As sustainability reporting becomes increasingly mandatory in some jurisdictions, the focus must turn quickly to mandatory assurance. Without it, the quality of sustainability reporting will lag financial reporting, and there will continue to be issues with greenwashing, reliability, and credibility. The accountancy profession, underpinned by its Code of Ethics, is particularly well placed to provide assurance services across both sustainability and financial disclosure.
IFAC CEO Kevin Dancey said, "IFAC applauds IOSCO’s endorsement of IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards S1 and S2, and its call to action to its member jurisdictions. These are important and most welcome developments. Now, the focus must turn quickly to sustainability assurance. IFAC remains committed to advancing these important conversations with our many global stakeholders, including with our 180 member organizations that represent millions of professional accountants all around the world."
About IFAC IFAC is the global organization for the accountancy profession dedicated to serving the public interest by strengthening the profession and contributing to the development of strong international economies. IFAC is comprised of 180 members and associates in 135 countries and jurisdictions, representing more than 3 million accountants in public practice, education, government service, industry, and commerce.
The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) and the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA) applaud the efforts of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) and today’s International Organization of Securities Commissions’ (IOSCO) endorsement decision of the ISSB’s recently issued IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards S1 and S2. IOSCO determined that these standards are “appropriate to serve as a global framework for capital markets to develop the use of sustainability-related financial information in both capital raising and trading and for the purpose of helping globally integrated financial markets accurately assess relevant sustainability risks and opportunities.”
In commenting on the endorsement, Tom Seidenstein and Gabriela Figueiredo Dias, IAASB and IESBA Chairs, respectively, said, “IOSCO’s endorsement of IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards S1 and S2 and its call to action for member jurisdictions to move toward adoption and implementation are two more important steps in establishing a trusted reporting framework for sustainability information. We appreciate IOSCO’s leadership in coordinating global consistency in sustainability reporting, assurance and ethics standards.”
The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) and the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA) applaud the efforts of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) and today’s International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) endorsement decision of the ISSB’s recently issued IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards S1 and S2. IOSCO determined that these standards are “appropriate to serve as a global framework for capital markets to develop the use of sustainability-related financial information in both capital raising and trading and for the purpose of helping globally integrated financial markets accurately assess relevant sustainability risks and opportunities.”
In commenting on the endorsement, Tom Seidenstein and Gabriela Figueiredo Dias, IAASB and IESBA Chairs, respectively, said, “IOSCO’s endorsement of IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards S1 and S2 and its call to action for member jurisdictions to move toward adoption and implementation are two more important steps in establishing a trusted reporting framework for sustainability information. We appreciate IOSCO’s leadership in coordinating global consistency in sustainability reporting, assurance, and ethics standards.”
The Fast Future With IFAC is a conversational podcast series about small- and medium-sized practices (SMPs) adapting to the rapidly changing global economy.
Episode Seven features excerpts from a presentation to IFAC's SMP Advisory Group by Paul Gisby, Director, Professional Services at Accountancy Europe.
This episode is the first in a three-part series on talent management.
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