IESBA chair Gabriela Figueiredo Dias reappointed

Gabriela Figueiredo Dias, chair of the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants, has been reappointed for a second term, beginning Jan. 1, 2025 and ending Dec. 31, 2026.

Figueiredo Dias has been leading the global ethics board since January 2022. During her first term, she spearheaded the IESBA through a strategy shift, including strategic initiatives that strengthened the relevance and widened the impact of the IESBA’s International Code of Ethics on innovative matters. 

She has also been leading development of new standards such as the soon-to-be-released sustainability-related standards, which will lay a foundation of ethics and independence as part of the global standards infrastructure for sustainability reporting and assurance.

Other new standards finalized over her first term included standards addressing the ethical dimensions of tax planning and related services, the transformative effects of technology on the accounting, assurance and finance functions, and auditor independence for group audits.

The reappointment comes at a significant time for the IESBA, as the board pursues a bold Strategy and Work Plan for 2024-2027, with a special focus on two strategic areas: culture and governance of accounting firms, and exploring extending the impact of the IESBA Code beyond its traditional scope. Other priorities include initiatives to address topics such as auditor independence in relation to collective investment vehicles, and the evolving role of CFOs. Figueiredo Dias’ first term has already brought progress on some of these priorities.

“I am honored to continue to lead the important work we are advancing at IESBA in the public interest,” Figueiredo Dias said in a statement Wednesday. “In times when ethics matters increasingly for sustainable businesses, markets and economies, it is essential that our standards meet the highest public expectations. Ethics is not optional. It is the bedrock of the accountancy profession and of the public trust in the profession’s work. I look forward to progressing the ambitious agenda we have set, with the critical collaboration of our stakeholders, as we address the complex ethical challenges our world faces today.”

Before joining the IESBA, Figueiredo Dias served as chair of the Portuguese Securities Market Commission and was a board member of the International Organization of Securities Commissions and the European Securities and Markets Authority. She also served as vice-chair of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Corporate Governance Committee.

Figueiredo Dias will be eligible for another term in 2027. “Under Gabriela’s leadership, the IESBA has tackled important projects over the past three years, which are in many instances groundbreaking and elevating the ethics agenda,” said Public Interest Oversight Board chair Linda de Beer in a statement. “The vital work on Sustainability and External Experts projects, coming to conclusion, being most pertinent. We are therefore glad to be able to renew Gabriela’s important leadership role as chair of the IESBA for a second term, in the first Standard Setting Board chair re-appointment process fully in the hands of the PIOB. We have done this in close consultation with the Monitoring Group Chair and other stakeholders who have a keen interest in the work of the IESBA. We wish Gabriela well for the term ahead, in continuing to steer the IESBA’s ambitious Strategy and Work Plan, which include the very important project on Firm Culture and Governance, central to the public interest.”

The Public Interest Oversight Board, which oversees IESBA and the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board, also announced several other new appointments and re-appointments to the IESBA and the IAASB this week that will take effect in January.

The PIOB appointed Channa Wijesinghe, CEO of the Accounting Professional & Ethical Standards Board of Australia. as vice-chair of IESBA for a two-year term, following his re-appointment to the board. Nancy Miller, managing director of KPMG US, and Obichukwu Nwazota, managing consultant of UGN Consulting Services in Nigeria, were appointed as new IESBA members. Mark Babington, executive director of the U.K.’s Financial Reporting Council, and Christelle Martin, a former ENGIE senior executive in France, were re-appointed for three-year terms, and Richard Huesken, a consultant and recently retired global independence leader at EY US, for a final year of service.

For the IAASB, Josephine Jackson, director of international audit and assurance standards policy at the U.K.’s Financial Reporting Council, was re-appointed as IAASB vice-chair for a final year of service. Nancy Cheng, audit committee chair at Shared Services Canada; Amaro Gomes, audit committee member at Banco Bradesco; Xiaoyue Sun, partner at BDO China; and Mikiko Ono, director of sustainability disclosure regulations at Recruit Holdings in Japan were appointed as new IAASB members, and Bill Edge, former chair of Financial Reporting Council and Auditing and Assurance Standards Board of Australia, and Neil Morris, global head of ESG assurance and methodology at KPMG, South Africa. were re-appointed, all for three-year terms.