Since the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015, the Intergovernmental Working Group of Experts has been playing a pivotal role in the harmonization of sustainability reporting frameworks and standards. Accounting and reporting on the financial and sustainability performance of public and private sector entities is a prerequisite for informed investment decision- making and remains high on the agenda of finance and investment policymakers.
The substantive agenda items for the forty-first session are as follows:
- Review of progress in harmonization and practical implementation of sustainability reporting, assurance and ethical considerations.
- Integrating reporting on the financial and sustainability performance of entities: Leveraging digitalization.
Additional topics will be considered under other business.
The session will be preceded by a consultative meeting on capacity-building needs for the effective implementation of sustainability reporting requirements to be held on 5 November 2024.
Participation
This meeting is open to all member States of UNCTAD. Other organizations, including specialized agencies, intergovernmental bodies and non-governmental organizations in the general category, may participate as observers.
Registration
Online registration is mandatory for all those wishing to attend the meeting and is required for inclusion in the list of participants.
Logistics
The session will be held with physical participation in room XVII of the Palais des Nations. Those who cannot attend the meeting in person will be able to listen to the live audio stream in the six official languages of the United Nations. The link to listen live will be sent to registered participants, at the email address used for registration, one day in advance of the start of the session.
| ISAR 41st Session and Consultative Meeting - Programme Overview
| ||
Tuesday 5 November | Wednesday 6 November | Thursday 7 November | Friday 8 November |
10:00-13:00 | 10:00-13:00 | 10:00-13:00 | 10:00-13:00 |
Consultations on capacity-building needs for effective implementation of sustainability reporting requirements | 10:00-10:30 Agenda items 1 and 2 Agenda Item 3 10:30 to 13:00 High-Level Segment Sustainability reporting frameworks and standards: from interoperability to full harmonization | 10:00-13:0.00 Agenda Item 3 continued… Review of progress in harmonization and practical implementation of sustainability reporting, assurance and ethical considerations | 10:00 – 11:00 Informal consultations (by invitation only) 11:00-13:00 - Agenda Item 4: continued… Integrating reporting on the financial and sustainability performance of entities: Leveraging digitalization |
13:00-15:00 Lunch Break | 13:00-15:00 Lunch Break | 13:00-15:00 Lunch Break | 13:00-15:00 Lunch Break |
15:00 – 18:00 Consultations on capacity-building needs for effective implementation of sustainability reporting requirements (continued)
| 15:00 – 18:00 Agenda Item 3 (continued) Review of progress in harmonization and practical implementation of sustainability reporting, assurance and ethical considerations | 15:00 – 17:00 Agenda Item 4: Integrating reporting on the financial and sustainability performance of entities: Leveraging digitalization 17:00 – 18:00 ISAR Honours | 15:00 – 16:30 Agenda Item 5 - Other business 16:30 to 16:45 Consideration of outcomes of agenda items 3, 4, and 5 16:45 – 17:30 Agenda Item 6. Provisional agenda for the Forty-second session 17:30-18:00: Adoption of the report of the session |
18:00 Closing of the meeting | 18:00 Closing of the day's session | 18:00 Closing of the day's session | 18:00 Closing of the day's session |
CA (Dr.) Sanjeev Kumar Singhal, Chairman of UNCTAD-ISAR 39th and 40th Session, is a Central Council Member of the ICAI (2019-2025), an FCA with 27 years of experience and a Founder of CA Parivaar Educational & Welfare Society (R).
Mr. Singhal is the Chairman of the Auditing and Assurance Standards Board, a Vice Chairman of the Committee for Members in Industry & Business, the Founder Chairman of the Sustainability Reporting Standards Board, a Director of XBRL India, a Founder Director of the Institute of Social Auditors of India, and a Special Invitee of the CARO group set up by MCA, a member of the SEBI task Force on Social Stock Exchange, a member of the SEBI Stock Exchange Advisory Committee, a member of the Niti Aayog panel on Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), a member of the ASEAN Federation of Accountants Nominating Committee for the Standard Setting Board, a member of the SAFA committee on auditing and quality standards, a member of the UN Global Compact Advisory Committee
Mr. Singhal has a B.Com. (Hons.) from SRCC, Delhi University Topper, an Articleship from A F Ferguson, Delhi, a M Com. Department of Commerce, Delhi School of Economics, and a PhD in International Finance from Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi.
Mr. Christopher Hui, GBS, JP
Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
Mr. Hui has been Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury since 2020. He serves on the boards of Mass Transit Railway Corporation Limited, Hong Kong Airport Authority and also as the Chairman of the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation.
He was an Administrative Officer in the Government from 1999 to 2003 and served in the Economic Development Branch, the Office of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in Beijing and the Home Affairs Department. After leaving the Government, Mr. Hui spent 13 years at the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited, having been the Managing Director for Market Development and Head of Project Management and also in various senior roles in Listing and Market Development. He worked for a number of multi-national companies in the private sector as well. He was appointed the Executive Director of the Hong Kong Financial Services Development Council from 2019 to 2020.
Mr. Hui previously held a number of public roles including Councillor of the City University of Hong Kong, Member of the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority Process Review Panel, Hong Kong Stock Exchange Listing Review Committee and also Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants Disciplinary Panel.
Mr. Hui holds Bachelor and Master (Hon) Degrees in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the University of Oxford, and Master of Business Administration Degree from INSEAD. He also attended the Stanford Executive Programme (SEP).
Sue Lloyd’s appointment as Vice-Chair of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), effective 1 March 2022, was announced in January 2022.
She served as a member of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) from 2014 and as IASB Vice-Chair from 2016. She also served as Chair of the IFRS Interpretations Committee from 2017.
In addition to her IASB responsibilities, she played a leading role in the establishment of the ISSB from 2020, including as a member of the Technical Readiness Working Group, which was created by the Trustees to give the ISSB a running start.
Prior to becoming an IASB member, Ms Lloyd worked for the IFRS Foundation as a senior technical director, leading the development of new IFRS Accounting Standards, and as director of capital markets with responsibility for the IASB’s reform of accounting for financial instruments. She also worked for the IFRS Foundation from 2002 to 2004 as a technical project manager.
Ms Lloyd has held various positions in investment banking both in the UK and in Australia and has served as a member of the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB). She has a Master’s degree in accounting and finance from the University of Auckland in New Zealand.
Saskia Slomp was appointed EFRAG CEO from 1 April 2019 responsible for the operations, finance, governance, due process oversight and administration of EFRAG, relations with stakeholders and the European institutions and the activities oriented at users. She supported the governance reform integrating the sustainability reporting pillar in EFRAG’s structure. She is also involved in EFRAG’s sustainability reporting activities.
She has been Governance and Admin Director at EFRAG from 1 January 2010 until 31 March 2019. In this role, she supported the various governance bodies of EFRAG and was responsible for the user activities and outreach events, in addition to her responsibilities for human resources.
Until the end of 2009, she was Technical Director at FEE (now Accountancy Europe), one of the founding member organisations of EFRAG. She has been involved in EFRAG since its establishment. Within Accountancy Europe, she was responsible for financial reporting, company law, corporate governance, capital markets, SMEs, sustainability reporting and assurance and the public sector. In the beginning of her career, she worked with KPMG in The Netherlands.
Saskia is a member of the Dutch NBA.
Ms. Archana Shirsat is Deputy Director General at INTOSAI ( International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions) Development Initiative (IDI) based in Oslo, Norway. IDI is an INTOSAI body that works towards independent, credible, and sustainable Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs), making a difference in the quality of public sector governance and service delivery for better societies and improved lives. IDI has three strategic priorities – Sustainability, Digitalisation and Public Trust in SAIs, in its Strategic Plan ( 2024-2029)
She is a member of the IDI management team and heads the Department for Professional & Relevant SAIs. Her team works with SAIs and key stakeholders across the world for professionalisation of public sector auditors through the Centre for SAI Audit Professionals, strengthening sustainable audit practices (financial, performance and compliance audits), promoting effective leadership of SAIs, raising the profile of SAI audit work and auditing relevant trends, including trends like technology, climate change, SDGs and equality for a positive impact on people and planet.
Bernhard Schatz has more than 13 years of experience in the public administration in Austria where he held positions at the Austrian Ministry of Finance and the Austrian Court of Audit (CoA). At his time at the MoF he was part of a team introducing a comprehensive budget reform including IPSAS, where he specialised in public financial management topics like budget management, fiscal risk management, accrual accounting and reporting. Afterwards he served as a senior expert for accounting and auditing standards at the CoA. He has served 6 years as a member of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB). He currently is PwC Austrias Public Sector and Sustainability Reporting Leader. Among other functions he serves as a member of the Sustainability Reference Group to the IPSASB, as observer to the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) and as a Technical Advisory Committee member to the World Bank's PULSAR program.
Peter Paul is currently the Chief Policy Officer of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and is responsible for driving the adoption of the GRI Standards into rules and regulations set by (national) policy makers and capital markets around the world.
Peter Paul has over 20 years of professional experience in public policy, communications and sustainability. In addition to leading his own business, Peter Paul has held executive positions at the LEGO Foundation and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).
Earlier in his career, Peter Paul has held various international positions in communications, sustainable development, government affairs and issues management at The Dow Chemical Company, including leadership of Dow’s Global Water Strategy Team. He holds a degree in Communications from the College for Economic and Business Administration Studies in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.
Tom Seidenstein is the Chair of the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board and the Co-CEO of the International Foundation for Ethics and Audit, the recently created organization that houses the IAASB and the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA). Since the beginning of 2023, he has served as IFEA’s Co-CEO with IESBA Chair Gabriela Figueiredo Dias.
Mr. Seidenstein was initially appointed IAASB chair in July 2019 and reappointed to a three-year term in June 2022. In this role, and now as Co-CEO, he has overseen significant revisions of existing audit standards aimed at enhancing public trust, the initiation of a new workstream aimed at creating a global assurance standard for sustainability, and an updated strategy aimed at increasing the responsiveness of standard setting.
Mr. Seidenstein’s career has spanned both the private sector and international standard setting. Prior to joining the IAASB, Mr. Seidenstein held senior strategic leadership positions at the US Federal National Mortgage Association, commonly known as Fannie Mae (Senior Vice President, Strategy, Innovation & Capital Management: 2012-19), and the IFRS Foundation (Chief Operating Officer: 2000-2011).
Additionally, Mr. Seidenstein has served at a consulting organization for not-for-profits, CCS Fundraising (Executive Director: 1999-2000), and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (Special Assistant to the Managing Director: 1995-1997). He has also served as a Trustee of the International Valuation Standards Council (IVSC) and on XBRL International’s Board of Advisors.
A strong believer in volunteer service, Mr. Seidenstein has held or holds volunteer leadership positions serving school education the US and the Make-A-Wish Foundation (both UK and international boards). He holds a Master’s in Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and an undergraduate degree (cum laude) from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.
Mark Babington is the Executive Director of Regulatory Standards at the Financial Reporting Council.
He leads the division responsible for the FRC’s technical and public policy work covering audit, corporate reporting, corporate governance and stewardship, actuarial and digital and taxonomies.
Prior to joining the FRC’s Executive Committee, Mark led the FRC’s UK Audit Policy programme, to set measures to support greater competition in the UK audit market and work to support the reform of international standard setting for auditors, by global regulatory authorities. Before he joined the FRC, Mark had a twenty-year career in audit and was a Director at the UK National Audit Office.
Mark is an Independent Governor, Board Member and Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, which is the UK public body dedicated to supporting democracy around the world. He is also a member of the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants, which sets the global Code of Ethics for the accountancy profession, and chairs IESBA’s Sustainability Task Force, tasked with developing revisions to the International Independence Standards. He also represents the FRC on the International Sustainability Standards Board’s Sustainability Standards Advisory Forum.
Elsa Beatriz García Bojorges is the President of the Mexican Financial and Sustainability Reporting Standards Board – CINIF (Mexico). She also was Chair of the Intergovernmental Working Group of Experts on International Standards of Accounting and Reporting (ISAR Group) 38th Session and Chair of Latin American Regional Partnership for the promotion of sustainability and SDG reporting, in 2022. She is a CINIF representative at the Sustainability Standards Advisory Forum (SSAF) of ISSB – IFRS Foundation and at the Emerging Economies Group of IASB – IFRS Foundation. She was a Board Member of Group of Latin American Standards Setters (GLASS). She is an Independent Board Member of several public and private companies.
Iheanyi O. Anyahara became the Technical Advisor for Christopher Nyong, a Board Member of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB), in January 2022.
Dr. Anyahara has over three decades of industry experience, with more than 20 years focused on financial reporting and management, accounting standard setting, and financial reporting regulation at the Financial Reporting Council (formerly known as the Nigerian Accounting Standards Board). He previously served as the Acting Executive Secretary/CEO of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria from March 1, 2020, to May 18, 2021. Currently, he holds the position of Director/Head of the Directorate of Public Sector Accounting Standards.
Throughout his career, Dr. Anyahara has held various leadership roles, including being a member of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on the National Chart of Accounts for Nigeria and a member of the IPSAS GAP analysis Committee. He also served as the Secretary to the National Stakeholders' Committee on the Roadmap to the Adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in Nigeria, a committee responsible for preparing the roadmap report that was approved by the Federal Executive Council under President Goodluck Jonathan.
Dr. Anyahara is a member of several professional bodies, including the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), the Association of Forensic Accounting Researchers, the Certified National Accountant, and the Nigerian Institute of Management.
He graduated with first-class honors from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and holds an M.Sc. in Accounting from the same university, as well as an MBA in Accounting from the University of Port Harcourt. He obtained his PhD in Accounting from Babcock University, Ilishan Remo, Ogun State. Additionally, he has attended contemporary continuing education programs at Harvard Business School, the London School of Economics, the Booth Business School at the University of Chicago, and the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
Dr. Anyahara is happily married and has four children.
Vania Borgerth is the Chair of ISAR’s Regional Alliance for Latin America (ARL).
She is also a Commissioner of CBPS (Brazilian Committee for Sustainability Pronouncements); Board Member of International Ethics Standards Board for Accounting (IESBA), SHIFT Project and International Foundation for Valuing Impacts (IFVI).
At ISSB (International Sustainability Standards Board), she represents the Brazilian Institute for Corporate Governance (IBGC) at the Integrated Reporting and Connectivity Council – IRCC (former IIRC) and CBPS at SSAF (Sustainability Standards Advisory Forum). She is also a Member of the Expert Panel of Accounting for Sustainability – A4S.
Mrs. Borgerth is the Head of CBARI - the Brazilian Network for Integrated Reporting. She is a former executive at BNDES (The Brazilian Development Bank) and an active attendee of UNCTAD’s ISAR since 2007 (Chair of 32nd session).
Bailey Church is the Leader of the Public Sector ESG Centre of Expertise at KPMG Canada, and a member of Canada’s Auditing and Assurance Standards Board’s Sustainability Assurance Committee.
Bailey has worked with more than 300 governments on sustainability reporting, including their journey for ESG reporting, including climate and biodiversity. Through his work Bailey has developed adaptations of the International Sustainability Standards Board guidance specific to the public sector.
Bailey is a board member of the Natural Assets Initiative. Bailey is leading the collaborations between KPMG, the Natural Assets Initiative, and the Intact Centre on Climate Change, and more than 50 industry partners to develop a voluntary disclosure framework designed to align with the Taskforce on Nature Related Financial Disclosures.
Connect with Bailey Church at KPMG in Canada.
If you would like to keep informed of updates about biodiversity reporting, connect with Bailey Church on LinkedIn for the latest articles and thought leadership insight.
Commissioner Fernandez supervises the lead unit of the SEC tasked with the regulation and development of the Philippine capital market, including the promotion of sustainable finance. He likewise supervises the unit responsible for advancing the Commission’s legislative agenda. He previously served as Supervising Commissioner of the SEC department which formulates corporate governance policies and regulations, and implements sustainability reporting across entities in the Philippine corporate sector.
Before joining the SEC, Commissioner Fernandez served as Deputy Executive Secretary in the Office of the President of the Philippines, where he crafted issuances articulating the policy directives of the President, evaluated executive agreements and financial instruments, and addressed governance concerns of national government agencies and state-owned enterprises.
Oscar Nuñez del Arco is a senior executive with more than 20 years of experience, leading multidisciplinary teams and projects in international companies and important government entities in public sector.
International consultant, university professor, speaker at national and international events, MBA in General Management, Master in Finance, Certified Public Accountant, Diploma in Public Management and International Certification of IFRS and IPSAS, among other studies.
Currently, he works as the General Director of General Direction of Public Accounting in Ministry of Finance in Peru; and also, as President of Accounting Standards Council.
And for the period 2022-2023, acted as President of FOCAL (Foro de Contadurías Gubernamentales de América Latina).
Dr. Ahmad AlMeghames is the CEO of Saudi Organisation for Chartered and Professional Accountants (SOCPA) since 2006, and serves on its board of directors, in addition to administrative positions he holds and committees in which he participates that include: Member of the Technical Committee at the Ministry of Finance for the project of transforming government agencies to the Accrual basis of accounting, Member of the Real Estate Contributions Committee, Member of ISAR, and Member of the consulting committee for the Gulf Cooperation Council Accounting and Auditing Organization (GCCAAO).
Dr. AlMeghames holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration in Accounting from Mississippi State University, USA, a Master of Business Administration, Majoring in Accounting, University of Bridgeport, USA, and a bachelor's degree in accounting from King Saud University, Saudi Arabia.
Mr Abboud is the President of the Lebanese Association of Certified Public Accountants since April 2014, he was a Board Member in 2010 and he contributed to the Completion of Quality Control and Peer Review Manuals in 2009. Mr Abboud is the managing partner of UHY Andy Bryan (member of UHY International), an audit and consulting firm based in Beirut-Lebanon, since 2004. Before joining UHY network during 2004, he was an executive manager in Ernst & Young with 12 years of experience in international audit firms Deloitte & Touche, Arthur Andersen, and Ernst & Young.
During his professional career, he was exposed to a variety of non-routine assignments that he has undertaken include financial investigations, feasibility studies and specialised business valuations for commercial and industrial projects, setting policies and procedures manuals, outsourced internal audit engagements, and others...
Mr Aboud holds a CPA certificate from California Board of Accountancy, Masters in Business Administration from Notre Dame University and Masters in International Business from Bordeaux Business School .He was an instructor at Becker CPA Review in Beirut lecturing the IFRS, CPA, CIA and CMA courses since 1998.
Mr. Pirnazarov Marat is Chairman of the Eurasian Regional Partnership on Sustainability and SDG Reporting.
Mr. Pirnazarov Marat is Chairman of the State Service for Financial Market Regulation and Supervision under the Ministry of Economy and Finance of the Kyrgyz Republic.
Mr. Pirnazarov is a former member of the Advisory Committee on Financial Markets of the Eurasian Economic Commission of the EEU (2015-2017), a member of the Council of Directors on Securities Market Regulation of the CIS Member States (2010-2017).
Mr. Pirnazarov has 17 years of experience, including in senior positions, with the state securities market authority, currently in regulation and supervision of accounting, financial reporting and auditing.
Seema is the Technical Director of the UK Endorsement Board (UKEB), the body responsible for influencing the development of IFRS accounting standards and their adoption for use by UK listed companies. Seema also represents the UKEB on the Government’s Policy Implementation Committee (PIC), which advises on the UK endorsement of ISSB Standards.
From 2017 until 2020, Seema worked as the Head of Accounting and Reporting Policy at the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. In that role, she represented the UK at the European Commission’s Accounting Regulatory Committee, European Council working groups, the UN’s Accounting Expert Group and at numerous UN conferences.
Seema’s previous experience includes working as an accounting standard setter at the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), and at KPMG as an auditor of listed and investment banking clients.
Seema is a fellow of the Institute for Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
Mr. John Turner, CEO of XBRL International, has led the organisation for a decade. XBRL International works to enhance transparency and accountability in business performance by developing and managing the XBRL standard. XBRL is a set of open, freely licensed data exchange specifications that permit the digital production and consumption of reports of all kinds. The organisation is a global not for profit that operates in the public interest. Since 2017, XBRL International has been focussed on a range of questions associated with the digitisation of sustainability disclosures.
Previously, Mr. Turner served as CEO of CoreFiling, led XBRL activities at KPMG International LLP, and spearheaded the world’s first regulatory project using XBRL for data collection, at APRA, the Australian financial regulator. He is a strong advocate for practical standards to enhance reporting and collaborates with consortium members and regulators worldwide. His educational background includes degrees in Law and Arts (Computer Science and Government) from the University of Queensland. He is based in Oxford, in the UK.
Mr. Müller joined the QFC Regulatory Authority in April 2012 as Director, Financial Analysis. He joined from the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) where, as Senior Executive: Standards, he influenced developments in international standard-setting and South African legislation and regulation.
In October 2015 he was appointed as Director, Prudential Supervision (Banking and Asset Management) and Financial Analysis. In August 2016, he was appointed Managing Director, Supervision and Authorisation, with responsibility for banking, investment management, insurance, financial intermediaries, and anti-money laundering.
Prior to his position with SAICA, Mr. Müller held senior roles in financial management, regulation, financial analysis and investor relations, primarily in financial services. Mr Müller is a member of the Global Forum for Ethics. He serves on the Intergovernmental Working Group of Experts on International Standards on Accounting and Reporting of UNCTAD (which he chaired in 2014), and was previously Chairman of XBRL SA and a member of the King Committee on Corporate Governance, the Audit Committee Forum and the Corporate Governance Network of the Institute of Directors SA, and Qatar’s Financial Stability and Risk Control Committee. Mr Müller has presented at various international conferences hosted by organisations such as the World Bank, the United Nations, and IFAC, and was also an anchor on business radio and television.
Prof. dr. Nancy (AEM) Kamp-Roelands is a professor non-financial information, integrated reporting and assurance at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. Since the early nineties Nancy has been involved in new reporting and assurance developments in organizations like the International Integrated Reporting Council, Global Reporting Initiative, Accountancy Europe, UNCTAD-ISAR, the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board, the Dutch Accounting Standards Board and the Dutch Auditing Standards Board. She had an award winning PhD in 2002 on Towards a Framework for Auditing Environmental Reports. She worked at EY from 2000-2013 and from 2016-2021. From 2013-2016 Nancy was the deputy director of the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board.
She combined international client experience with (international) standard setting and guidance development, teaching and research. In 2010 Nancy was the chair of UNCTAD-ISAR’s 27th session.
https://www.rug.nl/staff/a.e.m.kamp-roelands/cv
Related
Programme
Meeting series
Event
Contact
Communications concerning representation:
UNCTAD Secretariat
Intergovernmental Outreach and Support Service
Palais des Nations
CH-1211 Geneva 10
E-mail: meetings@unctad.org
Enquiries concerning substantive issues:
Edvins Reisons
Accounting and Corporate Governance Section
E.: isar@unctad.org