Tuesday 1 November 2022

Agenda item 1. Election of officers
Agenda item 2. Adoption of the agenda and organization of work

Opening statement: Rebeca Grynspan, Secretary-General, UNCTAD
Introductory remarks: James Zhan, Director, Division on Investment and Enterprise (DIAE), UNCTAD

High-level panel: Recent developments in financial and sustainability reporting requirements and related standard-setting developments and their implications for practical implementation

Speakers:
Saskia Slomp, Chief Executive Officer, European Financial Reporting Advisory Group
Ian Carruthers, Chair, International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board
Vania Maria da Costa Borgerth, Board Member, International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants
Isabelle Tracq-Sengeissen, Board Member, International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board

Agenda item 3. Good practices in and approaches to the practical implementation of sustainability reporting requirements

  • How can UNCTAD better support member States in implementing sustainability reporting requirements?
  • What is the best way to support national efforts to establish or strengthen the national infrastructure for sustainability reporting in developing countries?
  • How can countries keep up with developments in sustainability reporting and build the necessary capacity for implementing evolving requirements?
  • What elements are critical in ensuring that sustainability reports provide information on the impacts of the activities of companies, support responsible investment and help avoid “Goals-washing”?
  • What characteristics should the sustainability reporting infrastructure have in order to support small and medium-sized enterprises?
  • What elements are necessary to enable progress in public sector reporting practices towards sustainability reporting?
  • What do countries need to facilitate the evolution towards the digitalization of sustainability reporting information?
  • What is the best way to capitalize on the experiences of existing regional partnerships in the launch of new partnerships, for example in Asia, in Latin America and in the Middle East and North Africa?

Introduction, Richard Bolwijn, Officer-in-Charge, Enterprise Branch, DIAE, UNCTAD

Speakers:
Mardi McBrien, Director of Strategic Affairs , IFRS Foundation
Wang Dong, Deputy Director General, Accounting Regulatory Department, Ministry of Finance, China
Maria Ria Nonyana-Mokabane, Chief Director, Legislative Drafting, Department of Trade and Industry, South Africa
Peter Paul Van De Wijs, Chief External Affairs Officer, Global Reporting Initiative
Drissa Koné, President, Order of Chartered Accountants, Côte d’Ivoire
Bernhard Frey, Senior Manager, Sustainable Development Goals Impact and Reporting, United Nations Global Compact

Wednesday, 2 November 2022

Agenda item 3 (continued). Good practices in and approaches to the practical implementation of sustainability reporting requirements

Speakers:
Elsa Beatriz García Bojorges, President, Financial Reporting Standards Board, Mexico
Mariana Escobar, Adviser, Financial Superintendent; Head, Sustainable Finance Hub, Colombia
Juan Pablo Morataya, Executive Director, Centrarse [Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility Action], Guatemala
Felipe Janica, Assurance Partner, Ernst and Young, Latin America
Cliff Nyandoro, Head, Standards and Technical Services, Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Kenya
Tintswalo Maggie Mofokeng, Tinyeleti Consulting, Johannesburg, South Africa
Achile Nestor Basahag, Director, Public Accounting, Ministry of Finance, Cameroon

Agenda item 4. Review of practical implementation of international standards of accounting and reporting in the private and public sectors

  • Are there barriers limiting the further adoption of international financial reporting standards (IFRS) and international public sector accounting standards (IPSAS) worldwide?
  • To what extent have the benefits of adopting IFRS and IPSAS been realized?
  • What are some of the key lessons learned with regard to the regulatory, institutional and human capacity-building aspects of the implementation of IFRS and IPSAS?
  • Are there areas that require further capacity-building in member States, to facilitate the implementation of IFRS and IPSAS?
  • How can the Intergovernmental Working Group of Experts further its work with the Accounting Development Tool to support member States in the practical implementation of IFRS and IPSAS?

Speakers:
Edward Olowo-Okere, Senior Adviser, Equitable Growth, Finance and Institutions Vice-Presidency, World Bank
Jorge Gil, Group of Latin American Accounting Standard Setters
Lebogang Senne, Technical Director, Pan African Federation of Accountants
Nishan Fernando, Chair, Asian-Oceanian Standard-Setters Group
Didrik Thrane-Nielsen, Project Director, European Financial Reporting Advisory Group

Announcement of ISAR Honours 2022

Thursday, 3 November 2022

Informal consultations

Keynote speech: Martin Moloney, Secretary-General, International Organization of Securities Commissions

Agenda item 4 (continued). Review of practical implementation of international standards of accounting and reporting in the private and public sectors

Speakers:
Claudia Beier, Board Member, International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board
Cintia Catota, National Director, Public Assets, Ministry of Economy and Finance, Ecuador
Caroline Aggestam Pontoppidan, Professor, Copenhagen Business School
Alex Metcalfe, Head, Public Sector Policy, Association of Chartered Certified Accountants

Agenda item 5. Other business

Promoting gender balance in the accountancy profession

Insights from recent implementation of the Accounting Development Tool

Speakers:
Richard Mubiru, Manager, Enterprise Growth and Development, Private Sector Development Unit, Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Uganda
Marat Pirnazarov, Deputy Chair, Service for Regulation and Supervision of the Financial Market, Ministry of Economy and Commerce, Kyrgyzstan
Olga Bernatskaia, Vice-Presidente, Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Russian Federation
Jean-Pierre Essomba, Ministry of Finance, Cameroon

Consideration of outcomes under items 3, 4 and 5

Agenda item 6. Provisional agenda of the fortieth session

Agenda item 7. Adoption of the report