UNCTAD-ISAR is organizing this technical workshop in cooperation with the International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation. The event will address the following key issues:
Updates on international developments with respect to accounting and financial reporting needs of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises
Lessons learned from the implementation of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for SMEs
Updates on proposed changes to the IFRS for SMEs
Capacity-building needs in the area of accounting and financial reporting by SMEs
Her duties among others include supervision and coordination of activities of the United Nations Intergovernmental Working Group on International Accounting and Reporting Standards (ISAR) to assist developing countries and economies in transition to meet international requirements in the area of accounting and reporting. In this regard she leads UNCTAD’s work on formulating and implementation of the Accounting Development Tool (ADT), preparing a guidance on core SDG indicators for entity reporting intended to serve as a tool to assist governments to assess the private sector contribution to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, developing metadata guidance for the SDG indicator 12.6.1 in cooperation with UN Environment, as well as other activities related to corporate financial and non-financial reporting with a view to achieve better quality and international comparability of such reports based on international standards, benchmarks and good practices.
Before joining the United Nations in 2000, she was a partner at KPMG in Moscow where she was in charge of the Methodology department that advised Russian government and companies on transition to IAS/IFRS. She was also a consultant to the World Bank, OECD, EBRD, and other international organizations on accounting and finance issues. In different years she was a member of the Standards Advisory Council of the IASB, of the Education Committee and the Developing Nations Committee of the International Federation of Accountants. She was previously a Professor at Moscow State University teaching accounting and finance and was elected as American Accounting Association Distinguished International Lecturer for 1997.
She holds a PhD degree in accounting from Moscow State University and was a Visiting Fellow at Stanford University, California, in 1992-1993.
Guillermo Braunbeck is currently the Project Manager of the Education Initiative at the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). He obtained his PhD degree in Accounting at University of Sao Paulo and has been a docent at Fipecafi (University of Sao Paulo related foundation dedicated to research and professional training in accounting). He has graduated in economics right before joining Arthur Andersen in Brazil, where he worked in the assurance services area, mainly engaged in financial statement audits and due diligences. He also worked as internal audit head and risk manager as well as senior consultant in acquisition and post-merger activities. Mr. Braunbeck has engaged himself in several initiatives to promote high quality reporting, including projects for Brazilian Federal Council of Accounting, World Bank and more recently, for the UNCTAD/ISAR in the “Capacity-building for high-quality corporate reporting” project.
Didier is a lawyer with a degree in Private Law from the University of Lille and a post-graduate degree in EU law from the Université Libre de Bruxelles.
He started his career in the European Commission in 1994, dealing with international relations in the social field. He then moved to DG MARKT at the end of 1997 where he occupied different positions.
He was appointed the Deputy Head of the Asset Management Unit in 2007 and was attached to the cabinet of Commissioner Barnier in 2010 for 8 months.
In July 2012, Didier was appointed to his current position as Head of the Financial Reporting and Accounting Unit.
Didier Millerot was born in 1968 and holds Belgian and French nationalities. He is married with three children.
Mr. Amaro Luiz De Oliveira Gomes, Brazilian-British citizen (55), is a Board Member with the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) since 1st. July 2009. At the IASB he is the Chair of the Emerging Economies Group (EEG) and actively participates in IFRS adoption efforts, overseeing countries in Latin America.
Before joining the IASB, Mr. Gomes was the Head of the Financial System Regulation Department at the Central Bank of Brazil (BCB). With an in-depth knowledge of financial sector regulation, Mr. Gomes has had various roles and responsibilities while at the BCB, from 1992 until 2009, representing the Bank and participating in various international regulatory forums and working groups.
At the BCB, Mr. Gomes was responsible for drafting regulation related to financial products (e.g. derivatives and mortgages), microfinance (access to banking services and products by micro-, small-, and medium-size entities and individuals), consumer rights in the banking sector (banking fees, information transparency), regulatory capital requirements (implementation of Basel Committee recommendations), adoption of international standards and best practices and recommendations in prudential regulation (25 Core Principles for Effective Banking Supervision), market integration (Mercosur), accounting (International Financial Reporting Standards – IFRS) and auditing (International Auditing Standards – IAS). Mr. Gomes played a leading role in the implementation of best international regulatory recommendations and practices in the Brazilian financial system, and also in the development of widely acknowledged regulation in the microfinance and consumer rights areas. As for the adoption of IFRS in Brazil, he oversaw the introduction of IFRS for regulated financial institutions and served as an advisor to the BCB's own adoption of IFRS.
Mr. Gomes also represented the BCB in the two bodies devoted to IFRS adoption in Brazil — the Brazilian Accounting Pronouncements Committee (Comite de Pronunciamentos Contabeis - CPC) and the Steering Committee for Accounting Convergence–Brazil (Comite Gestor da Convergencia no Brasil) under the auspices of the Brazilian Federal Accounting Council (Conselho Federal de Contabilidade).
Mr. Gomes was significantly involved in efforts aimed at international regulatory cooperation. He was the Central Bank's representative at the Accounting Task Force of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, from 2004 until joining the IASB in 2009, and at the MERCOSUR Sub-Group IV – Financial Services Integration, coordinating the Commission on Financial Services and the Sub-Commission on Accounting Issues, from 1999 until 2009. In addition, from 1999 to 2003 he was the Central Bank’s representative in the Intergovernmental Working Group of Experts on International Standards of Accounting and Reporting (ISAR), at the UNCTAD-UNO.
From 2007 until joining the IASB in 2009, Mr. Gomes was the representative of the Association of Banking Supervisors of the Americas (ASBA) in the Policy Development Group, also under the auspices of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision.
Before joining the Central Bank of Brazil, Mr. Gomes had an extensive experience in auditing financial institutions and pension funds, while with Pricewaterhousecoopers, from 1986 until 1992. He holds a Bachelor in Accounting from the Universidade de Brasilia (Brazil) and obtained his Masters in Accounting and Finance from Lancaster University (UK), in 1998.
Muneer Hassan CA(SA) began his tenure at SAICA in November 2007 as Project Director: Tax. He was internally promoted to his current role in March 2012. Hassan's portfolio is to ensure that SAICA plays a leading role in shaping the regulatory environment and governance framework for the accountancy profession by managing key stakeholder relationships and ensuring high quality technical contributions into external processes, technical communication and services to SAICA members.Prior to joining SAICA, Hassan was a tax technical advisor at the South African Revenue Services. He holds certificates in Capital Gains Tax as well as Advanced Taxation.
Mr. Shah is currently the Managing Partner of Deloitte Pakistan, one of the leading professional services firms in Pakistan.
Has remained a Board Member of International Federation of Accountants (<strong>IFAC</strong>), the global representative organization of accounting profession. He remained the President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP), and Chairman of 26<sup>th</sup> session of ISAR, UNCTAD, United Nations Geneva (<strong>ISAR</strong>).
Mr. Shah is one of the leading trainers and speaker at national and international seminars and conferences on the subjects of Corporate Governance, Internal Control, Corporate Fraud, Auditing, Accounting, Taxation, Internal Auditing. He was Chairman of the technical committee, which drafted the Corporate Governance Rules for public sector companies in Pakistan. Has also remained Advisor to the Chief Minister Sindh on Finance, with status of Provincial Finance Minister.
Mr. Hernán Casinelli serves as the Chair of the Accounting, Auditing, and Assurance Standards Board of the FACPCE, the Accountancy body profession in Argentina.
Mr. Casinelli is a representative member of the FACPCE in the IASB’s Emerging Economies Group (EEG), and he is a member of the technical advisory group of the Group of Latin American Accounting Standard-setters (GLASS), having conducted several GLASS’ technical working groups over the last ten years. Mr. Casinelli is also a member of the Reference Group of the IAASB for the “Audit for LSEs project”.
Mr. Casinelli is a former member of the IASB’s SME Implementation Group (2010 – 2016) and played a key role in the adoption processes of the IFRS for SME Accounting Standard and the IFRS Accounting Standards in several Latin American countries.
In his own practice, Mr. Casinelli spent his time as a consultant on IFRS Accounting Standards matters.
He combines his professional career and his standard-setting activities with a large academic activity. Since 2013, he has served as a director of the IFRS Certificate Program at the Universidad Austral, a partner in learning of ICAEW in Argentina, the best-ranked non-governmental University in Argentina, and one of the best-ranked in Latin America.
As Head of Corporate Reporting at the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, Richard Martin’s role involves monitoring and scrutinizing developments in financial reporting - particularly within IFRS - and integrated and narrative reporting. His analysis of these issues helps mold ACCA policy. He is also Chairman of the Accounting Expert Group at the European Federation of Accountants and Auditors for SMEs, and a member of the reporting policy groups at Accountancy Europe.
Mr. Martin has been a member of the European Commission Expert Group for the evaluation of IFRS Regulation. He has also contributed to working parties for ISAR - UNCTAD, looking into Reporting and Sustainable Development and in developing accounting guidance for SMEs.
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).
Paul Thompson joined the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) in 2004 and is presently Director, Global Accountancy Profession Support, having previously served as Director, SME & SMP Affairs, where he led IFAC’s initiatives to support the development of small- and medium-sized practices (SMPs) and the value they add to small- and medium-sized entities (SMEs). Mr. Thompson now leads the Global Accountancy Profession Support business line for IFAC, which encompasses the Global Knowledge Gateway, SMP/SME, and professional accountants in business. From 1988 to 1991, Mr. Thompson worked for Touche Ross & Co., London, where he specialized in the audit of financial institutions. He then went on to lecture on financial reporting and analysis at the undergraduate and MBA levels at universities in the United Kingdom, Singapore, and Malaysia. He has contributed to a number of publications in academic journals and the professional press in the areas of bank lending, financial reporting, corporate governance, and corporate social reporting.
Jim Osayande Obazee is the Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria. In that capacity, he oversees the setting, monitoring and enforcement of Financial Reporting Standards and Corporate Governance practices in both Public and Private Sectors of the Nigerian economy. He is also responsible for harmonizing the activities of relevant professional and regulatory bodies in Nigeria. In his earlier role, he has been on attachment to FASB, USA and ASB, Canada. He was the Chairman of the 29th Session of UNCTAD-ISAR and Chairman of the Committee of the Roadmap to the adoption of IFRS in Nigeria. He holds an M.Sc in Accounting, a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria and a member of American Accounting Association.
Damir Kaufman is Secretary General at the Ministry of Justice in Zagreb, Croatia. During Croatian accession to the European Union as Director of the Financial System Directorate with the Ministry of Finance he coordinated the capacity building process and alignment of the Croatian Financial Reporting System with the European Union requirements. The process included changes in legislative and regulatory framework, institutional reorganisation, human and resources capacity build-up and monitoring of implementation. As Vice-Chair of the Croatian Public Audit Oversight Committee and a member of the Croatian Financial Reporting Standards Board, he provided inputs to the country's corporate reporting system. He holds a J.D. degree (dipl.iur.) from the University of Zagreb Faculty of Law, and a Masters degree from University College London.
Gabriella Kusz currently works as a Senior Financial Management Specialist working for the World Bank Middle East and North Africa region. In this role, she is responsible for supporting the development of Corporate Financial Reporting (CFR) throughout the region. Previously, Ms. Kusz worked as a Senior Technical Manager for the Member Body Development Team at the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) where she was responsible for supporting the activities of the IFAC- Donor Community MOSAIC Initiative, as well as the IFAC Professional Accountancy Organization (PAOs) Development Committee. Prior to joining to IFAC, she was responsible for managing international financial reform projects at the CARANA Corporation, a USAID contractor firm specializing in economic development. Ms. Kusz holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Dayton, a Master of International Policy and Development from Georgetown University and she is a Certified Public Accountant from the United States, licensed in the state of Virginia.
