Tuesday, 4 October 2016
Agenda item 1. Election of officers
Agenda item 2. Adoption of the agenda and organization of work
Opening: Vania da Costa Borgerth, Chair, thirty-second session, Intergovernmental Working Group of Experts on International Standards of Accounting and Reporting (ISAR)
Opening remarks: Mukhisa Kituyi, Secretary-General, UNCTAD
Election of Chair and Vice-Chair-cum-Rapporteur
Gerard Ee, President of the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants (Chair nominee)
Hillary Biwott, Legal Officer, Regulatory Framework, Capital Markets Authority, Kenya (Vice-Chair nominee)
Introductory remarks: James Zhan, Director, Division on Investment and Enterprise, UNCTAD
High-level panel: The role of accounting for sustainable development – recent trends and challenges
The panel will discuss the impact of the Sustainable Development Goals on accounting and reporting. It will review recent developments in corporate reporting and address major issues concerning implementation of the Goals so as to enhance the role of reporting in facilitating financial stability and sustainable development. The panel will provide perspectives of national regulators, policymakers, standard setters, development agencies and other key stakeholders.
Wilmar Franco, President, Technical Council of Public Accounting, Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, Colombia
Olivia Kirtley, President, International Federation of Accountants
Nicolas Bernier Abad, Policy Officer, Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union, European Commission
Agnes Macaulay, Deputy Accountant-General, Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, The Gambia
Jarett Decker, Head, Centre for Financial Reporting Reform, World Bank
Philippe Danjou, Board Member, International Financial Reporting Standards Board
Patrick Scheurle, Chief Executive Officer, Blue Orchard
Jean-Paul Gauzès, Board President, European Financial Reporting Advisory Group
Pablo Pérez Rodríguez, Senior Adviser on Accounting, Auditing and Disclosure, Financial Stability Board
Discussion
Lunch break
Agenda item 3. Practical implementation of compliance monitoring and the enforcement of accounting and audit requirements for high-quality reporting
The panel will discuss the key issues of building and implementing an effective system to monitor compliance and enforce international standards and requirements of high-quality corporate reporting. It will also consider a revised version of an UNCTAD discussion paper on this matter.
Introductory remarks: UNCTAD secretariat
Jim Obazee, Chief Executive Officer, Financial Reporting Council, Nigeria
Marek Grabowski, Director, Audit Policy, Codes and Standards Division, Financial Reporting Council, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Hillary Biwott, Legal Officer, Regulatory Framework, Capital Markets Authority, Kenya
Karel Van Hulle, Member, Public Interest Oversight Board
Gerard Ee, President, Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants
Tetiana Iefymenko, President, Academy of Financial Management, Ministry of Finance, Ukraine
Sha Ali Khan, Director, Practice Monitoring, Association of Chartered Certified Accountants
Discussion
ISAR 33 Cocktail Reception
Wednesday, 5 October 2016
Agenda item 4. Enhancing the role of reporting in attaining the Sustainable Development Goals: Integration of environmental, social and governance information into company reporting
The session will discuss the following topics:
- Ways and means of enhancing the role of reporting in attaining the Sustainable Development Goals
- Main challenges of facilitating the quality and comparability of sustainability reporting
- Integration of environmental, social and governance information into company reporting
- Alignment of harmonized sustainability reporting with the Sustainable Development Goal monitoring framework
- Usefulness of accounting data for statistical purposes
- Sustainability reporting principles: materiality and comparability; relevance of the reporting framework for International Financial Reporting Standards
- Reporting boundaries
- Relationship between consolidated and legal entity reporting on sustainability issues and reliability of such information
Introductory remarks: Tatiana Krylova, Head, Enterprise Branch, Division on Investment and Enterprise, UNCTAD
Elisa Tonda, Head, Responsible Industry and Value Chain Unit, United Nations Environment Programme
Marjan Schipper, Deputy Director, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Netherlands
Alessandra Alfieri, Chief, Environmental-Economic Accounts Section, Statistics Division, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs
Jessica Fries, Executive Chair, Accounting for Sustainability
Steve Gunders, Board Member, Sustainability Accounting Standards Board
Neil Stevenson, Managing Director, International Integrated Reporting Council
Eric Hespenheide, Interim Chief Executive, Global Reporting Initiative
Vania da Costa Borgerth, Deputy Managing Director, Controlling Division, Brazilian Development Bank
Stathis Gould, Senior Technical Manager and Head, Professional Accountants in Business, International Federation of Accountants
Ambreen Waheed, Founder and Adviser, Responsible Business Initiative
Birgitte Mogensen, Chair, Corporate Social Responsibility Committee, Association of Danish Auditors
Irena Pichola, Partner, Sustainability Consulting, Deloitte
Discussion
Lunch break
Agenda item 4 (continued). Enhancing the role of reporting in attaining the Sustainable Development Goals: Integration of environmental, social and governance information into company reporting
The panel will address issues and challenges of selecting core universal indicators for companies reporting on their Sustainable Development Goal-related performance and impact, based on ongoing initiatives in the area of sustainability reporting, Sustainable Development Goal monitoring framework and indicators, and prevailing company reporting practices. Specific indicators in the economic, environmental, social and institutional/governance areas will be discussed, including based on practical case studies. It will also elaborate on a way forward towards enhancing the role of corporate reporting in attaining the Sustainable Development Goals.
Kevin McKinley, Acting Secretary-General, International Organization for Standardization
Michel Scholte, External Affairs Director, True Price
Jane Jagd, UNCTAD Resource Person
Gulenn També, Partner, EMEIA Financial Services Organization, EY
Michael Zimonyi, External Affairs and Policy Manager, Climate Disclosure Standards Board
Elizabeth Umlas, Senior Adviser, Capital Stewardship, UNI Global Union
Mario Abela, Corporate Reporting and Research Director, Gather
David Picton, Chief Sustainability Officer, Carillion Plc
Scott Barlow, Senior Reporting Manager, BT Group
Maria Lisiakova, Manager, Sustainability Risk Department, Swiss Re
Discussion
Thursday, 6 October 2016
Meeting of formal members of ISAR (by invitation)
Consideration of outcomes of agenda items 3 and 4
Agenda item 5. Other business: Follow-up on the previous sessions of ISAR
(a) Accounting Development Tool implementation update
Arman Bekturova, Director, Ministry of Finance, Kazakhstan
(b) Capacity-building for financial inclusion and access of small and medium-sized enterprises to finance
UNCTAD will provide an overview of its current activities since the last session of ISAR in the area of accounting for of small and medium-sized enterprises.
Discussion
Lunch break
Agenda item 5. Other business (continued)
(c) Updates by international and regional organizations
Speakers on this panel will present brief updates on activities carried out by their respective institutions since the last session of ISAR.
Jarett Decker, Head, Centre for Financial Reporting Reform, World Bank
Philippe Peuch-Lestrade, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, International Integrated Reporting Council
Maria Casado, Secretary-General, Federation of Mediterranean Certified Accountants
Jacobus du Toit, Vice-President, Pan African Federation of Accountants
Cornelio Porras, First Vice-President, Interamerican Accounting Association
Bodo Richardt, President, European Federation of Accountants and Auditors for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises
Consideration of outcomes of agenda item 5
Agenda item 6. Provisional agenda for the thirty-fourth session of ISAR
Agenda item 7. Adoption of the report