The Agenda items in­cluded:

• Sustainability
• Rollout of Revised Public Interest Entity (PIE) Definition
• IFAC Panel on Accounting Education
• Tax Planning & Related Services
• Emerging Issues and Outreach Committee (EIOC)
• IAASB-IESBA Coordination
• Technology Fact Finding and Thought Leadership
• Engagement Team - Group Audits Independence

Re­view the high­lights sum­mary and pod­cast on the IESBA's web­site.

The Agenda items in­cluded:

• Sustainability
• Tax Planning & Related Services
• Technology Fact Finding and Thought Leadership
• En­gage­ment Team – Group Au­dits In­de­pen­dence
• Tech­nol­ogy Pro­ject
• Strategy and Work Plan 2024-2027 (SWP)
• Emerging Issues and Outreach Committee (EIOC)
• Rollout of Revised Public Interest Entity (PIE) Definition
• Next Meet­ing

Re­view the high­lights sum­mary and pod­cast on the IESBA's web­site.

In recent years, much public attention has focused on the topic of tax planning and related services, notwithstanding the legality of the tax mitigation schemes, structures or transactions to achieve desired tax outcomes. Questions have been raised regarding the ethical implications for integrity and professional behavior, among other fundamental ethics principles, when PAIBs are involved in developing or implementing tax strategies that are perceived as “aggressive,” or when PAPPs provide advice to their clients on such strategies. The issue is of such major public interest significance that it has been discussed on the G20 agenda.

In light of the public concerns, the IESBA committed in its Strategy and Work Plan 2019-2023 to understand and address the ethical implications of “aggressive tax planning” as it relates to the role of PAIBs and PAPPs. Following fact finding, the IESBA initiated a project aimed at developing a principles-based framework to guide PAIBs’ and PAPPs’ ethical conduct when providing tax planning services to their employing organizations and clients, respectively.

Review the press release on the IESBA's website.

Building on the February 2020 Phase 1 Report, the Report documents the impacts of disruptive and transformative technologies on the work of professional accountants, and provides extensive analysis and insights into the ethical dimension of those developments. The report also discusses the relevance and importance of the overarching principles and specific provisions in the International Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (including International Independence Standards) (the Code) in laying out the ethical guardrails for professional accountants as they face opportunities and challenges in their work as a result of rapid digitalization.

The Report surveys the technology landscape and summarizes the outcomes of the Working Group’s fact-finding into the ethics implications of innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain and cloud computing. It explores -- through the ethical lens -- various related issues, including data governance, cybersecurity, and reliance on, or use of, experts, and provides insights into those issues and the questions they raise. The Report includes ten recommendations which the IESBA will further consider, some of which it is already addressing in developing technology-related revisions to the Code.

Review the press release and report on the IESBA's website.

Among other matters, the Staff Alert highlights the ethical implications arising from the wide-ranging economic sanctions many jurisdictions have imposed on Russia and certain Russian entities and individuals as well as Belarus, and the related ethical responsibilities of PAIBs and PAPPs under the Code. It also highlights:

• Key ethics considerations for PAIBs in relation to the preparation and presentation of information, especially as regards accounting for and disclosing the impact of the Ukraine conflict on their employing organizations’ business; and
• Key ethics considerations for PAPPs in relation to client and engagement acceptance, and in the context of audits of financial statements, key independence considerations relating to overdue fees and the Code’s prohibition against assuming management responsibility.

Review the press release and publication on the IESBA's website.

The publication is designed to highlight, illustrate or explain aspects of the revised fee-related provisions in the Code and thereby assist in their proper application. It is intended to complement the Basis for Conclusions for the final standard and assist national standards setters, professional accountancy organizations, and professional accountants in public practice (including firms) as they adopt and/or implement the revised provisions. The publication is also intended to assist regulators and audit oversight bodies, the corporate governance community, investors, preparers, educational bodies or institutions, and other stakeholders in understanding the revised standard and its application.

Review the press release and FAQ on the IESBA's website.

Together with the recently issued fee-related revisions to the Code, the NAS revisions significantly strengthen the International Independence Standards by addressing public interest concerns about independence when firms provide NAS to their audit clients. The development of the Q&As has been informed by the IESBA’s deliberations in the project to revise the NAS provisions and extensive consultations with a wide range of stakeholders, including regulators and audit oversight bodies, the investor and corporate governance communities, national standard setters, firms and professional accountancy organizations.

The publication complements the Basis for Conclusions for the final NAS pronouncement and is intended to assist national standards setters, professional accountancy organizations, and professional accountants in public practice as they adopt and/or implement the revised NAS provisions. The Q&As will also assist other stakeholders, including regulators and audit oversight bodies, those charged with governance, investors, preparers, and academics and other educators better understand the key changes to the NAS provisions of the Code. These changes include the new requirements and guidance that:

• Prohibit a firm or a network firm from providing a NAS that might create a self-review threat to an audit client that is a public interest entity.
• Explain how firms are to determine when a self-review threat to independence might be created, including in relation to providing advice and recommendations to an audit client.
• Are relevant in applying the Code’s conceptual framework to identify, evaluate, and address threats to independence that might be created when an audit firm provides a NAS to an audit client.
• Enable and promote more robust communication and engagement about independence matters relating to NAS between audit firms and those charged with governance of public interest entities.

The revised NAS provisions are effective for audits of financial statements for periods beginning on or after December 15, 2022.

Review the press release and Q&A on the IESBA's website.

The Exposure Draft Proposed Technology-related Revisions to the Code seeks to enhance the Code’s robustness and expand its relevance in an environment being reshaped by rapid technological advancements. The proposed amendments will guide the ethical mindset and behavior of professional accountants in business and in public practice as they deal with changes brought by technology in their work processes and the content of the services they provide.

Among other matters, the proposals:

• Draw special attention to the professional competence and confidentiality imperatives of the digital age. 
• Address the ethical dimension of professional accountants’ reliance on, or use of, the output of technology in carrying out their work. 
• Further enhance considerations relating to threats from the use of technology as well as considerations relating to complex circumstances in applying the Code’s conceptual framework. 
• Strengthen and clarify the International Independence Standards (IIS) with respect to technology-related non-assurance services (NAS) firms may provide to their audit clients or technology-related business relationships they may enter into with their audit clients.
• Explicitly acknowledge that the IIS that apply to assurance engagements are applicable to assurance engagements on non-financial information, for example, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosures.

The proposed revisions build on the role and mindset changes that became effective last December, and the revised NAS provisions that will become effective in December 2022.

Review the press release and proposed revisions on the IESBA's website.

Watch the video on the AcSB's website.

The overall objective of the review is to update the Principles in light of recent evolutions in capital markets and corporate governance policies and practices. OECD and G20 countries have identified a range of priority areas to take into consideration during the review, including the management of environmental, social and governance risks; digitalisation; changes in corporate ownership and concentration; and the role of institutional investors and stewardship, among others. An important overarching aim of the revision is to support strengthened corporate sector resilience and to improve companies’ access to finance from capital markets.

Review the following on the OECD's website:

• Press release
• Public consultation
• Consultation document