Policy Position Paper 1, Regulation of the Accountancy Profession, was first issued by IFAC in December 2007. The revised paper includes a new section highlighting the importance of global regulatory convergence, including the adoption and implementation of high-quality standards. IFAC recognises that regulation of the accountancy profession is primarily conducted at a national level. Therefore, in IFAC's view, to achieve international convergence, national regulation should aim to endorse and implement principles, approaches, and obligations outlined in material issued by authoritative international bodies.

Policy Position Paper 3, International Standard Setting in the Public Interest, was issued by IFAC in December 2008. The revised and updated paper describes how current governance arrangements and independent standard-setting boards supported by IFAC operate in the public interest and address the need for legitimacy, transparency, and performance. The paper includes a brief history of IFAC's governance structure (such as the 'IFAC Reforms') and notes that the IFAC Board is considering amendments to the governance process of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB), including the possibility of public oversight by the Public Interest Oversight Board (PIOB).

Click for IFAC press release (link to IFAC website).

'Ecosystem services' (ES) is a term used to capture the benefits derived from ecosystems, such as food, pharmaceutical products, timber, soil fertility, pollination, and freshwater.

In cooperation with the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) and consultancy CREM, GRI proposes a new approach for developing sustainability reporting indicators to help companies report their impacts and reliance on ecosystem services.

The research publication elaborates on what ecosystem services are, and in which ways organisations interact with them and how to factor ecosystem services into their long term strategy and operations. The publication suggests indicators that organisations could use to assess and report their impacts on ecosystem services, discussing both narrative reporting and performance reporting.

The publication builds on related initiatives around 'natural capital' such as The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity study (TEEB), the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) Corporate Ecosystem Valuation (CEV) Guide and The University of Cambridge Natural Capital Leaders Platform report (issued in June 2011). The GRI publication represents a move towards incorporating ecosystem services information into sustainability reporting and ultimately integrated reporting.

Click for GRI press release (link to GRI website).

Click for our earlier story on exposure draft of proposed amendments to IFRS.

This council will "provide strategic guidance and facilitate AccountAbility's mission of advancing corporate responsibility and sustainability by increasing the impact of its standards, shaping a leading research agenda, and delivering transformative service solutions". Members include CEOs, policymakers and thought leaders, including the former US FASB chairman Robert Herz.

Click for AccountAbility announcement (link to AccountAbility website) to see a full list of council members.

Speeches and presentations at the session included contributions from ACCA, IAESB, IFAC, IFRS Foundation and the World Bank. They are available on this UNCTAD website.

On the eve of ISAR 28, a technical accounting workshop on "Accounting and reporting for financial instruments and application for fair value measurement requirements" was offered. During the workshop experts presented and discussed main provisions, changes and challenges associated with IFRS 13 Fair Value Measurement and IFRS 9 Financial Instruments. Speakers included Deloitte's financial instruments expert Andrew Spooner, Joao Santos from the Financial Instruments Team of the IASB and Gerald Edwards, Senior Advisor Accounting & Auditing Policy of the FSB. All speeches and presentations are available on the UNCTAD webpage dedicated to the workshop.

The two new standards are:

• The Corporate Value Chain Standard seeks to identify opportunities for companies to make more sustainable decisions about their activities and the products they produce, buy and sell
• The Product Life Cycle Standard provides a tool to assist companies to measure the greenhouse gas emissions of an individual product, covering materials, manufacturing, use and disposal.

The measurement of greenhouse gas emissions is of importance in both sustainability and integrated reporting, and indirectly in accounting for any recognised liabilities under emissions trading and similar schemes.

Click for press release (link to WBCSD website).

The International Valuations Standards Council (IVSC) and the International Private Equity Valuations (IPEV) board have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU), agreeing to co-operate on valuation standards.

The IVSC recently published new International Valuation Standards (IVS) covering the valuation of a wide range of assets for financial reporting and other purposes. The IPEV issues the International Private Equity and Venture Capital Valuation Guidelines, which were last updated in 2009 and are widely used by private equity managers when estimating the fair value of investments for financial statements and for reports to investors.

Under the MoU, the IVSC and IPEV have agreed to co-operate with a view to ensuring that the IPEV Valuation Guidelines are consistent with the International Valuation Standards and that the IVSC considers the needs of private equity and venture capital investors in its future work plan.

Click for IVSC announcement (link to IVSC website). More information about the IPEV Valuation Guidelines can be found at www.privateequityvaluation.com.

The IFAC submission follows previous submissions by IFAC to the G20 in 2009 and 2010 and encourages the G20 to continue its essential work on addressing important issues arising from the global financial crisis and to meet the commitments made in its communiqués of 2008–2010 and in the reports of its working groups. In IFAC's view, to achieve these aims the G20 must strive for reporting of high-quality, internationally consistent, relevant, and reliable financial and non-financial information by all sectors.

IFAC recommends that the G20 consider the following three objectives:

• Public sector financial management, transparency, and accountability – including urgent and fundamental work to consider the nature of institutional change to protect the public and investors in government bonds. Key points to be considered include high-quality and timely accrual-based financial reporting by the public sector (which may be achieved through the adoption and implementation of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSASs, published by the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board), audited financial statements, and budgeting, appropriations, and reporting on the same accrual basis
• Global regulatory convergence. IFAC recommends the G20 continue its momentum and ambition for regulatory reform and convergence that has been developed during the global financial crisis – recommendations include the adoption and implementation of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), International Standards on Auditing (ISAs), and the auditor independence requirements set out in the Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants across all jurisdictions
• Development of integrated reporting. IFAC encourages the G20 to support the development and use of integrated reporting, and in particular, the work of the International Integrated Reporting Committee (IIRC) in creating a globally accepted integrated reporting framework.

Click for IFAC announcement (link to IFAC website).

163 senior executives from a wide range of industries, including the financial sector, from the US, Europe, the Middle East and Asia took part in the survey that was designed to gauge support for of global standards. The findings were complemented with in-depth interviews with nine executives and investors. According to the study the main results of the survey were:

• Increasing familiarity with global standards in financial reporting continues to break down resistance to their implementation.
• The effect of the financial crisis has been to improve perceptions of global standards among investors and issuers.
• Investors favour global auditing standards.
• Rising demands from investors and customers for greater disclosure is fuelling an appetite for global standards in non-financial reporting.
• Executives believe that global standards or benchmarks in corporate governance would encourage more 'long-term' thinking.
• Although a more distant aspiration, there is a clear recognition of the potential benefits of integrated reporting.

In the foreword to the study, ACCA CEO Helen Brand comments on the results and argues, that they are a clear sign that the US Securities and Exchange Commission should adopt the IFRSs.

Click for:

• full text of the study (PDF 166k, link to ACCA website)

The European Commission's Expert Group on disclosure of non-financial information by EU companies held its third meeting on 30 September 2011.

The discussions of the expert group focused on the nature, content and scope of potential legislation. They were based on a non-paper circulated to the members of the expert group ahead of the meeting and included as Annex 2 to the minutes.

No next meeting is scheduled for the time being, but the Commission may call for another meeting in the future depending on the developments this initiative may make. A legislative proposal on the disclosure of non-financial information by companies is planned for the first half of 2012.

Minutes from the meeting are now available on the EC's website (PDF 33k).

More information on international developments in integrated reporting is available on our IAS Plus page on integrated and sustainability reporting.