ISAR Update Newsletter - September 2013
15.10.2013
UNCTAD-ISAR to hold its thirtieth session in 6-8 November in Geneva
UNCTAD launches CSR Global Retreat
ISAR's ADT supports Côte d'Ivoire's accounting and financial system assessment
New York Stock Exchange joins United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative
News briefs:
Group of 20 Leaders' Summit reiterates call for a single set of global accounting standards
IAASB publishes post implementation review on clarified ISAs
IASB publishes guide for micro-entities that apply the IFRS for SMEs
UNCTAD-ISAR to hold its thirtieth session, 6-8 November 2013 in Geneva
The thirtieth anniversary session of UNCTAD’s Intergovernmental Working Group of Experts on International Standards of Accounting and Reporting (ISAR) will be held at the Palais des Nations in Geneva from 6–8 November 2013. The session will deal with two main agenda items. The first agenda item will be a continuation to ISAR’s current work on key foundations for high-quality corporate reporting. Under this topic, the session will review feedback from countries that applied the UNCTAD-ISAR Accounting Development Tool. It will also address human resources development challenges in the context of achieving high-quality corporate reporting. The second main topic will focus on a review of good practices in sustainability reporting and regulatory and stock exchange initiatives. On 5 November 2013 a technical workshop will be conducted in conjunction with the thirtieth anniversary session of ISAR. Various activities will be conducted during this time to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary session of ISAR.
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UNCTAD launches CSR Global Retreat
In March 2013, UNCTAD launched the CSR Global Retreat, a new peer-to-peer training programme on responsible business for TNCs, with special focus on TNCs from developing countries. This retreat took place in Geneva from 12 to 14 March 2013. The event brought together 27 CSR officers from 19 countries. Developed in partnership with the German development agency (GIZ) and the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), this new training programme has been built on research work undertaken in the context of the Division’s work for the G20, the World Investment Report and ISAR work on CSR reporting. During the retreat, CSR officers benefited from a special question and answer session with representatives from OHCHR, UNICEF, ILO, ITC, United Nations Global Compact, OECD and the ISO26000 working group. This event further strengthened UNCTAD’s leadership role in the area of promoting CSR and responsible investment and created a new channel for promoting public policy sustainable development goals directly to the “sustainability champions” inside developing and developed country TNCs.
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lSAR ADT supports Côte d'Ivoire's accounting and financial system assessment
June 2013 – Abidjan. The Ivorian National Accounting Council (CNC) invited UNCTAD to a seminar entitled “The role of accounting in economic development”. During the meeting, the findings of the application of the ISAR Accounting Development Tool (ADT) (in 2012) in Côte d’Ivoire were presented to 300 high-level stakeholders from public and private sectors. UNCTAD-ISAR developed the ADT as a self-guidance tool aiming at tracking quality towards convergence through measurement and benchmarking of accountancy indicators. “The objective of the assessment of our accounting and financial system was, on one hand, identifying its strengths and weaknesses and, second, identifying priority areas to strengthen and requiring assistance,” said Mr Adama Kone, Chair of the National Accounting Council (CNC) and Director General of Treasury and Public Accounting. He added that “Côte d'Ivoire had weighted the importance of the quality of financial information.” Ms. Nialé Kaba, Minister of Economy and Finance, mentioned that significant resolutions, including the adoption of IFRS by listed entities on the Regional Stock Exchange (Bourse Régionale des Valeurs Mobilières, BRVM), the adoption of a revised SYSCOA in line with IFRS for other entities, as well as the creation of an oversight body for auditors were among an array of activities to be included in a national strategic plan aimed at strengthening the accounting and financial architecture of Côte d’Ivoire. Ms. Kaba plans to participate in the thirtieth session of ISAR in Geneva.
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New York Stock Exchange joins United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initative
In New York, on 24 July 2013 the NYSE Euronext, parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, joined the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) initiative to promote sustainable capital markets. As a global exchange group home to the world’s leading companies, NYSE Euronext’s commitment signals the significance of sustainability to the private sector globally. In remarks delivered at the New York Stock Exchange, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon commended the company for its commitment to improving corporate behaviour and promoting sustainable investment. The Secretary-General also rang the NYSE closing bell to commemorate the occasion.
The addition of the world’s largest stock exchange to this group is a significant forward step signalling the importance and relevance of sustainability to the private sector around the world,” said the United Nations Secretary-General. “I thank NYSE Euronext for committing to the Sustainable Stock Exchanges initiative and I urge stock exchanges around the world to follow their lead.”
“We are proud to join the SSE initiative and partner with the United Nations and our industry to support best practices in corporate governance and transparency related to corporate sustainability,” said Duncan L. Niederauer, Chief Executive Officer of NYSE Euronext. “We lead by example by running our business in an environmentally responsible manner, and by leveraging the unique power of our platform and our NYSE Euronext community.”
Established in 2009 by the United Nations Secretary-General, the SSE initiative explores how stock exchanges can work together with investors, regulators and companies to enhance corporate transparency – and ultimately performance – on environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) issues and encourage responsible long-term approaches to investment. Currently the SSE initiative has eight partner exchanges that have over 15,000 listed companies. The SSE initiative continues to welcome new exchanges ready to make a voluntary commitment to promoting sustainability practices among their listed companies.
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News briefs:
Group of 20 Leaders' Summit reiterates call for a single set of global accounting standards
In concluding their Summit in Saint Petersburg, the Russian Federation, in early September 2013, the leaders of the Group of 20 (G20) countries once again highlighted the importance of continuing work on convergence in accounting standards in order to enhance resilience of the financial system. They urged the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) of the United States of America to complete by the end of 2013 their work on key outstanding projects for achieving a single set of high-quality accounting standards. The two main remaining topics that the IASB and the FASB are being urged to finalize are on loan loss provisioning and insurance.
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IAASB publishes post implementation review on clarified ISAs
In July 2013, the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) published a report entitled Clarified International Standards on Auditing – Findings from the Post Implementation Review. The report presents an assessment of the effectiveness of the implementation of the clarified International Standards on Auditing (ISAs) that the IAASB issued in early 2009. The findings indicate that the IAASB had achieved its goal in revising the ISAs. While global harmonization had been beneficial to audit quality, differences in culture and the stage of development of the auditing profession in different jurisdictions needed to be taken into account in assessing the level of harmonization. There were some indications that the ISAs were being consistently applied within some accounting firms. The report also presented general findings on the specificity, format related revisions, increased volume of documentation and future changes in the ISAs.
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IASB publishes guide for micro-entities that apply the IFRS for SMEs
At the end of June 2013, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) published a guidance document for microentities that apply the International Financial Reporting Standard for small and medium-sized entities that the Board issued in 2009. The guidance was developed with input from the IASB’s SME Implementation Group. The guidance document consists of extracts of requirements from the IFRS for SMEs that are likely to be necessary for a typical microsized entity, without modifying any of the principles for recognizing and measuring of assets, liabilities, income and expenses. It also contains cross references to the IFRS for SMEs for topics not covered in the guidance.
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