IESBA releases its 2023 annual report

The International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants highlighted its accomplishments and outlined its agenda for the coming year in its 2023 annual report, released Tuesday. 

In the past year, the standard-setter approved and launched several sustainability reporting standards to steer companies away from “greenwashing.” Those include the Exposure Draft on International Ethics Standards for Sustainability Assurance and the final Ethics Standards for Tax Planning and Related Services. 

The IESBA also approved the IESBA’s Strategy and Work Plan for 2024-2027 and the Exposure Draft on Using the Work of an External Expert, which provides a framework for evaluating an external expert’s competence and capabilities.

“2023 has been a transformative year for the IESBA, marked by our continued commitment to strengthening global ethics standards and putting ethics at the heart of corporate decision-making,” IESBA chair Gabriela Figueiredo Dias said in a statement. “Our efforts in areas such as sustainability reporting and assurance and tax planning are prime examples of how we are addressing the evolving challenges and opportunities to enhance public trust and integrity in corporate reporting and in the work of professional accountants and assurance providers.”

Looking forward, the IESBA’s 2024 agenda will focus on final approvals for more sustainability-related standards, new workstreams addressing accounting firm culture and governance, and independence considerations for audits of collective investment vehicles, pension funds and investment company complexes. 

“As IESBA broadens its horizons, we want to also consider the impact and possible application of the Code beyond the profession, and we will continue to build upon steps taken to develop and finalize profession-agnostic ethics standards for all sustainability assurance practitioners,” Figueiredo Dias said in the report. “Finally, plans for transitioning to a staff-driven model and expanding the team demonstrate a commitment to operational excellence and responsiveness to evolving needs, with the ambition to diversify the funding model for the future.”