Dr. Kobayashi is a professor at the Graduate School of Political Science, Waseda. She was a president of the Board of Audit of Japan from 2018-2019, and the deputy president of the Board of Audit of Japan from 2013-2018. Dr. Kobayashi is the chair of JICPA Self-Regulatory Monitoring Conference from 2021. She is the chair of Subcommittee on Financial Inspection, Intellectual Property Committee, Industrial Structural Counsil from 2021. She is also a member of a JICPA project team studying governance for public service deliverers from 2023.

In Japan, Dr. Kobayashi was a member of the Fiscal System Council; Business Accounting Council; Secretariat of Supervisory Commission for Public-Private and Private-Private Competitive Tenderings; Committee for the Promotion of the Private Finance Initiative; and Commission on Policy Evaluation and Evaluation of Incorporated Administrative Agencies, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. Dr. Kobayashi was also a member and chief of executive committee for the working group on local public enterprise strategy throughout the 21st century for the Local Public Enterprise preCommunications, and an expert advisor for the Committee for the Promotion of the Private Finance Initiative.

Dr. Kobayashi earned a PhD in commerce at Waseda University and has published many articles and books including, the Management Accounting for the Government.

Her Technical Advisor is Takeo Fukiya.

Renée Pichard, CPA, became a member of the IPSASB in January 2021. She was nominated by CPA Canada. Ms. Pichard is a partner at Deloitte Canada and a leader in the Public Sector Assurance practice. With 30 years of financial management, accounting advisory and executive leadership experience, she leverages her expertise to help public sector organizations navigate through change and improve their ability to provide reliable financial and sustainability related information. Prior to joining Deloitte, Ms. Pichard held the position of Assistant Auditor General at the Office of the Auditor General of Canada, where she spent 17 years developing expertise in advising public sector clients on complex accounting transactions under IFRS as well as Canadian and International Public Sector Accounting Standards.

Previously, Ms. Pichard spent the first part of her career as an auditor at Deloitte and as Director, Corporate Finance for a global public telecommunication corporation.

Ms. Pichard was a technical advisor with the IPSASB between 2013 and 2019. She has also contributed to the establishment of auditing and accounting standards in Canada as a member of various task forces.

Mrs. Pichard graduated from the Université du Québec en Outaouais in 1993 and received her accounting designation in 1995.

Her Technical Advisor is Sayja Barton.

Mr. Hervé-Adrien Metzger was appointed as IPSAS Board Member in January 2021, nominated by the Conseil Supérieur de l'Ordre des experts-comptables and the Compagnie Nationale des Commissaires aux comptes of France.

Mr. Metzger joined the Cour des comptes, the French Supreme Audit Institution, in 1990 following a previous career as a naval officer (admin, financial and legal) which he retired with the grade of Captain (N). He was appointed as Senior Judge in 2006. His areas of expertise are in education, culture and defence as he served as the lead advisor for economic and financial affairs in the private office of the Minister of Defence in 1997. Since 1993, Mr. Metzger has been particularly involved in financial and performance auditing of many international organisations, including but not limited to, the International Criminal Court (ICC); the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); the Western European Union (WEU); the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN (FAO); and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT). He also served four years on the International Board of Auditors for NATO of which he is a past chairman.

Mr. Metzger is a trained engineer (Ecole Polytechnique of France), lawyer and auditor. He was a recipient of the Legion of Honor in 2001 and received the decoration of Officer in the French National order of Merit and of Knight in the Order of Arts and Literature.

His Technical Advisor is Baudouin Griton. 

Sayja Barton became a Technical Advisor for Renée Pichard in 2021. Ms. Barton is the Director of National Accounting Standards for Binder Dijker Otte (BDO) Canada LLP. In her current role, she assists engagement teams with complex accounting issues related to Canadian Public Sector Accounting Standards (PSAS), Accounting Standards for Private Enterprises (ASPE) and Accounting Standards for Not-for-Profit Organizations (ASNPO). She also develops BDO's courses and tools related to accounting and financial reporting, writes internal and external accounting and financial reporting publications and training, and provides accounting advisory services on complex matters.

Ms. Barton has held positions in the public accounting sector and has worked for a large government business enterprise. Ms. Barton contributes to accounting standard setting by preparing feedback to standards setters on documents available for comment on behalf of BDO Canada. She is also a member of the Canadian Public Sector Accounting Board's (PSAB) Public Sector Accounting Discussion Group and the Chair of PSAB’s Technical Advisory Group.

Ms. Barton is a chartered professional accountant and holds a Bachelor of Arts (Chartered Accountancy Studies) and a Master of Accounting from the University of Waterloo.

Coinciding with the UK’s Time to Talk Day, please join us for a well-being webinar on

February 4th at 9 AM NY | 2 PM UK

The International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA) today released revisions to the International Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (including International Independence Standards) (the Code) addressing the objectivity of an engagement quality reviewer (EQR) and other appropriate reviewers. This project dovetailed with the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board’s (IAASB’s) development of International Standard on Quality Management (ISQM) 2, Engagement Quality Reviews, which was finalized in December 2020.

The revisions provide guidance that supports ISQM 2 in addressing the eligibility of an individual to serve in an EQR role, focusing on the critical attribute of objectivity. Among other matters, the guidance:

• Elaborates on the need to identify, evaluate and address threats to compliance with the fundamental principle of objectivity that might arise in the appointment of an individual as an EQR for a given engagement;
• Explicitly refers to and supports the requirement in ISQM 2 for a firm to establish, as a condition for eligibility, a cooling-off period of two years before an engagement partner can assume the EQR role on the same engagement; and
• Emphasizes that this cooling-off requirement in ISQM 2 serves the dual objective of supporting compliance with the fundamental principle of objectivity and the high quality of engagements.

The guidance may also apply in situations where, as a safeguard to address identified threats to compliance with the fundamental ethics principles, an individual is appointed as an appropriate reviewer for work performed.

“It is in the public interest that individuals trusted to serve as engagement quality reviewers act with unquestioned objectivity, given the nature and importance of that role,” said IESBA Chairman Dr. Stavros Thomadakis. “This new guidance is intended to reinforce the guardrails around this important function. I commend the extensive coordination efforts between the IESBA and IAASB in finalizing this guidance, and acknowledge the Public Interest Oversight Board’s useful advice on this project.”

The enhanced guidance will become effective December 2022. 

About the IESBA

The International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA) is an independent global standard-setting board. The IESBA serves the public interest by setting ethics standards, including auditor independence requirements, which seek to raise the bar for ethical conduct and practice for all professional accountants through a robust, globally operable International Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (including International Independence Standards).

The IESBA believes a single set of high-quality ethics standards enhances the quality and consistency of services provided by professional accountants, thus contributing to public trust and confidence in the accountancy profession. The IESBA sets its standards in the public interest with advice from the IESBA Consultative Advisory Group (CAG) and under the oversight of the Public Interest Oversight Board (PIOB).

These revisions address the objectivity of an engagement quality reviewer (EQR) and other appropriate reviewers. This project dovetailed with the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board’s (IAASB’s) development of International Standard on Quality Management (ISQM) 2, Engagement Quality Reviews, which was finalized in December 2020.

Esteban serves as a member of the IFAC PAIB Advisory Group in January 2021, having been nominated by the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA).

Esteban is a Finance and Accounting Director at Procter and Gamble, where he is a global expert in source to pay applications, stewardship and controls, including global invoicing, Coupa applications and SAP.  Esteban joined Procter and Gamble in 2000 and has worked in supply chain, corporate consolidation and plant manufacturing finance roles.

Esteban has been an active member of the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) for a number of years, working on the creation of the IMA Leadership Academy and overseeing the Strategic Finance Magazine Leadership column. Esteban also serves on the IMA board of Directors.

Esteban is an active environment sustainability advocate, lives in Costa Rica and is a proud Dad and happy husband.