The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) released its Post-Exposure Consultation, which provides stakeholders with an opportunity to comment on the IAASB’s finalised narrow-scope amendments to the International Standards on Quality Management and the International Standards on Auditing.
The amendments follow revisions to definitions of listed entity and public-interest entity (PIE) in the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants’ Code of Ethics, the release said. The invitation to comment allows stakeholders to share observations that might be relevant to the IAASB before finalising the amendments.
“The IAASB’s Post-Exposure Consultation provides stakeholders the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the identified divergence issue and how this has informed the IAASB as it advanced the IAASB PIE proposals, including the IAASB’s rationale in arriving at its final position,” the release said.
The comment deadline is 27 March. Comments can be submitted online.
FRC updates number of signatories to Stewardship Code
The UK Financial Reporting Council (FRC) announced that it has 297 successful signatories to the UK Stewardship Code following the latest round of applications, a news release said. The signatories represent £52.3 trillion of assets under management and are made up of 199 asset managers, 77 asset owners, and 21 service providers.
Ahead of its consultation closure, the FRC plans to publish an updated Stewardship Code that will come into effect in 2026, the release said.
Those submitting reports this year should continue reporting to the 2020 Code, the release said, inviting signatories to review the interim changes as they prepare for their next report under the current requirements.
IAASB partnership looks to boost trust in sustainability disclosures
A new partnership between the IAASB and the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) aims to enhance trust in corporate sustainability disclosures by establishing a strong global framework for assurance.
The IAF highlighted, in its letter of intent, its alignment with the IAASB’s goal of promoting consistency and quality in assurance practices worldwide, a news release said. IAASB Chair Tom Seidenstein emphasised the importance of the collaboration in his statement within the release, noting that it will help ensure consistency and quality in sustainability assurance engagements in the public interest and reduce the risk of fragmentation.
“A key aspect of this collaboration includes [the] IAF’s commitment to supporting the use of the IAASB’s International Standard on Sustainability Assurance 5000 [ISSA 5000] in accredited verification activities where appropriate,” the release said.
Additionally, the IAF will engage with the International Federation of Accountants to seek agreement on intellectual property considerations related to referencing IAASB standards, the release said.
GRI suggests improvements for tax-related sustainability reporting
A new report from the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) found that more companies are being transparent about tax-related impacts in sustainability reporting but that many have room to improve the depth of their disclosures.
Some of the findings of the reporting included that one-fourth of the 1,000 largest companies in the world use the Tax Standard GRI 207: Tax 2019 — the leading global standard for tax transparency — in their sustainability reporting, a news release said.
The GRI also found that “a majority of the companies disclose (all or partly) their approach to tax (73%), tax governance (56%), and stakeholder engagement (54%), while only a minority (22%) include country-by-country tax reporting”.
To help companies improve tax reporting practices, the report suggests they combine GRI reporting with other tax initiatives and provide greater clarity on the level and scope of external assurance applied to GRI 207 reporting, among other recommendations, the release said.
— To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Steph Brown at Stephanie.Brown@aicpa-cima.com.