In announcing the G7‘s fundamental principles, the European Commission recognised the work of the G7 Cyber Expert Group in responding to the increasingly sophisticated cyber threats being faced by the financial sector.

The G7's fundamental principles are designed to assist both private and public sector financial entities in addressing the risks of cyber-attacks against such financial organisations. It is also expected that these fundamental principles will assist public authorities in steering any public policy, regulatory or supervisory obligations.

The report consists of eight non-binding elements that are intended to provide high-level guidance to support financial entities in creating cyber security strategy and policies.

Review a summary and the report on the European Commission's website.

In his speech, Mr. Bauguess explains that just because we have a lot of data, that doesn't ensure that there will be an application for it all. And big data can’t fix bad empirical methods, and bad data can’t be analyzed no matter how big it is. Data quality remains important no matter its size. So, we continue to need to think carefully about how we collect data. And just as we did in assembling small data samples in a prior era, we need to do the same when generating large samples today.

Review the speech on the SEC's website.

The GRI Standards are a set of 36 modular standards that facilitate corporate reporting on topics such as greenhouse gas emissions, energy and water use, and labor practices. The GRI Standards are centered on materiality – focusing on the topics that represent the most significant impacts of the organization and are most important to organizations’ stakeholders – which supports sustainability reporting that is tailored to each individual company. A company can prepare a sustainability report in accordance with the GRI Standards at Core or Comprehensive level, or disclose individual topics to meet specific reporting needs.

The GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards will enable companies around the world to be more transparent about their impacts on the economy, the environment and society.

Please click for the press release on the GRI's Web site. The GRI Standards are available for free download through the GRI Standards hub, along with extensive additional resources.

This short paper discusses the preparation of the reporting infrastructure, practical integration of climate change information into mainstream reports, and materiality. In conclusion the paper identifies that there is a crucial role for the reporting community to play to ensure the success of the TCFD’s recommendations.

Please click for the press release and the publication on the CDSB's Web site.

The SEC received over 276 non-form comment letters in response to the Concept Release, with a strong showing of support for improved disclosure of sustainability-related information in SEC filings. Two-thirds of comment letters address sustainability-related concerns. Most of these letters support improved sustainability-related disclosures in SEC filings; for many commenters this was the only matter of concern.

In addition to climate change, sustainability-related areas of interest noted in comments to the SEC include a vast array of issues, including but not limited to: land tenure rights; water (access to, stewardship of); political spending and lobbying; gender pay equity; diversity; human rights; human capital management; international tax payments; sustainable palm oil; forestry, and; supply chain management.

The report is available on the SASB's Website.

Held at Microsoft's headquarters in New York City, the event marks the first meeting between blockchain specialists from Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PwC. According to ConsenSys head of blockchain accounting, Griffin Anderson, the series of roundtable discussions will center on how the accounting industry could work together to develop new blockchain standards.

While organizers say the accounting consortium effort is in its early stages, the concept itself has proven to be a popular way for established players to work with the potentially disruptive technology.

Review the full article.

Discussion points included:

• Structure of the Code
• Safeguards
• Professional Skepticism
• Non-Compliance or Suspected Non-Compliance with Laws and Regulations (NOCLAR)
• Long Association
• Review of Part C of the Code – Phase I

Review the highlights on the IESBA's Web site.

Over the coming months and years, there will be significant changes to the political landscape. In the short term, the government is likely to set up a cross-departmental task force in order to negotiate Britain’s exit from the EU.

To counteract the immediate negative shock to the economy, it is likely that a number of policy measures will be announced. The government could introduce some pro-business measures in an emergency budget, ease fiscal deficit cuts and temporarily suspend its fiscal rules and the Bank of England’s inflation target.

The medium-term impact on the economy is harder to assess and will depend largely on the pace and success of the government’s negotiations with the EU and on future access to the single market.

In the longer term, economic activity will be determined by a combination of the nature of the UK’s post-exit trade relationship with the EU and its ability to exploit its newfound freedom to forge individual trade deals with emerging markets outside the EU.

Review our Initial Response to the EU Referendum released by our UK firm: Explore the effects of Brexit on business and the economy.

Deloitte UK offers a website dedicated to the EU referendum and its result offering insight papers, perspectives and access to webinars on what this change can mean.

Catalyst Canada is a non-profit organization whose mission is to accelerate progress for women through workplace inclusion. The Report was commissioned by the Government of Ontario and is intended to advance gender balance on boards through providing recommendations to companies and business leaders as well as the Ontario government.

The Report notes that while some indications of momentum exist, with 15% of TSX-listed issuers having added one or more women to their boards between the 2014 and 2015 proxy seasons, there is still much progress to be made in terms of gender balance, as women currently comprise 20.8% of the members of such boards and half of TSX-listed issuers do not have any women on their boards.

Review the report and the article on the Blake Cassels & Graydon LLP's Web site.