The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), which comprises 180 member and associate organizations and represents over 3 million professional accountants globally, continues its work in support of a global system for delivering consistent, comparable and assurable sustainability information.

In its response to the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission’s (SEC) recent request for public input on climate change disclosures, IFAC emphasized the needs of investors and other stakeholders for climate and other sustainability-related information to be high-quality, decision-useful, and trusted.

A Building Blocks Approach provides the architecture for a global system that enables comprehensive corporate reporting for capital markets, while also addressing specific public policy initiatives like climate action and other jurisdiction-specific issues. IFAC believes that the IFRS Foundation’s initiative to establish a new International Sustainability Standards Board is a critical component of creating a global baseline of investor-focused reporting requirements. The IFRS Foundation’s ongoing work focused on climate disclosure will benefit all jurisdictions who are taking steps to address the urgency of climate change.

IFAC CEO Kevin Dancy said, “The U.S. and the SEC have played a critical role in the development of IFRS Standards for financial reporting, including convergence between the FASB and IASB and permitting foreign SEC registrants to use IFRS Standards to meet their U.S. reporting requirements. Today, as policymakers consider the best way forward for crafting an emerging global system for sustainability-related reporting, U.S. support is more important than ever. As the SEC explores climate-change related disclosure, IFAC urges the Commission to support a global approach.”

See IFAC’s response to the SEC on the IFAC website.

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 Federation of Accountants (IFAC) welcomes the work of the World Economic Forum’s (the “Forum”) Unifying Framework, published today, for the important added visibility it provides in the fight against financial crime from a cross-sectoral perspective.

The release of the Forum’s report today is a significant step in raising awareness about the good work of gatekeepers – individuals including accountants, bankers and lawyers – who work to prevent or interrupt financial crime, and particularly money laundering, illicit financial flows, and corruption.  By endorsing this work, IFAC hopes that we can inspire other gatekeeper professions to adopt ethical frameworks on par with the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants’ (IESBA’s) International Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (the Code), the gold standard for ethical behavior.

Kevin Dancey, CEO of IFAC, said, “This new report by the Forum is broadly aligned with the long-standing principles of the Code, which governs the conduct of approximately 3 million professional accountants, defined as those who are members of one of the 180 professional accountancy organizations (PAOs) around the world recognized by IFAC.  We encourage other gatekeeper professions across all sectors to look to the Code as a model.”

IFAC and the International Bar Association are hosting an event together out of a shared commitment to fighting corruption on behalf of our respective professions.

Participants

Mental wellness can be an uncomfortable or unfamiliar subject to discuss—and it is often stigmatized. Yet it is an issue for all of us—even if we aren’t consciously aware of any difficulties. The pandemic has been a wake-up call for greater awareness and understanding as so many have endured extraordinary circumstances for such an extended period, and continue to do so.