UNCTAD hosted the thirty-first session of the Intergovernmental Working Group of Experts on International Standards of Accounting and Reporting (ISAR), an event which this year took place as part of UNCTAD's World Investment Forum 2014.
Experts, who gathered in Geneva from 15 to 17 October, emphasized the key role that monitoring of compliance and enforcement plays in fostering credibility, and the ways in which corporate financial and non-financial reporting can contribute to development.
Discussions focused on the monitoring of compliance and enforcement of international reporting requirements, such as International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), International Standards of Audit (ISA) and other requirements for financial and non-financial reporting, which increasingly are being adopted around the world.
In opening remarks UNCTAD Deputy Secretary-General Petko Draganov said that while IFRS have been adopted in many jurisdictions, "they will be ineffective unless adequate implementation measures are taken, including building an efficient system for the monitoring of compliance and enforcement".
During his keynote speech, Gonzalo Ramos, Secretary General of the Public Interest Oversight Board, said that a solid monitoring of compliance and enforcement system played a critical role in the area of audit, assurance and ethics for high-quality corporate reporting. He outlined key challenges in this area.
David Wright, Secretary General of International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), said that high-quality corporate reporting is essential to achieve investors' confidence and promote integrity in financial markets.
Michel Prada, Chair of the International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation, said that monitoring of compliance and enforcement were important for consistent and rigorous implementation of accounting requirements and for ensuring comparability and transparency of corporate reports.
More than 280 experts from about 80 countries and leading international organizations took part in the meeting. These included representatives of the Financial Stability Board, the World Bank, the International Forum of Independent Audit Regulators, IOSCO, IFRS Foundation, International Association of Insurance Supervisors, International Federation of Accountants, PIOB, Global Reporting Initiative, International Integrated Reporting Council, professional bodies, companies, academia and other stakeholders.
The discussions said sound reporting is critical to investment facilitation, financial stability and sustainable development. The experts also underlined the need to facilitate cooperation and coordination towards developing strong and effective national mechanisms for monitoring of compliance and enforcement.
On 13 October, the ISAR workshop on the Future Direction of the Corporate Reporting Models was attended by more than 100 leading international experts on accounting and reporting.
Experts discussed recent trends in corporate reporting models and debated different ways to create a cohesive approach to corporate financial and non-financial reporting in order to enhance its role in attaining sustainable development goals.
For more than 30 years, ISAR has been the focal point within the UN system for issues of corporate transparency and accounting. ISAR has an integrated programme of research, intergovernmental dialogue, consensus building and technical cooperation.