On Tuesday, June 1 at 9 AM EDT, as part of the United Nations Special Session of the General Assembly Against Corruption (#UNGASS), the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and the International Bar Association (IBA) will be co-hosting the event Independent Professions Fighting Corruption, a live virtual roundtable discussion about how the legal and accountancy professions fight corruption and promote the rule of law.

The global legal and accountancy professions are vital allies in the fight against corruption, in every country around the world.  In this live event, distinguished leaders from both professions will discuss how their professions contribute to the fight, with a focus on ethics and independence.  While the “professional enablers” narrative has attracted significant attention recently, this event looks to highlight the important role the professions play as allies, as well as to strengthen the dialogue with key stakeholders and enhancing the professions’ contributions as committed partners. 

Panelists include:

• Srinivas Gurazada, Head of Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) Initiative Secretariat
• Leopoldo Pagotto, Co-Chair, IBA Anti-Corruption Committee
• Stephen Revell, Freshfields Bruckhaus Derringer and co-vice chair of the IBA Law Firm Management Committee
• Dr. Stavros Thomadakis, Chair, International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA)
• Co-Moderator, Sara Carnegie, Director of Legal Projects, IBA
• Co-Moderator, Scott Hanson, Director of Public Policy & Regulation, IFAC

Join the webinar on Tuesday, June 1, at 9:00 AM EDT here.

The SMPAG supports the IAASB Exposure Draft to make necessary conforming and consequential amendments to address inconsistencies between the IAASB’s Other Standards and Framework with the new and revised QM standards.

Watch CPA Australia's May 18 webinar about IESBA's Technology Initiative, featuring Mr. Brian Friedrich (Chair of Technology Working Group) and Mr. Greg Driscoll (Member of IESBA’s Technology Task Force). 

Click here.

For more information about IESBA's Technology Initiative, click here.

The IFAC SMP Advisory Group believes that the approach for a global PIE definition should be narrow, rather than broad. Otherwise the situation arises where PIEs at an international level are not PIEs under local legislation in several parts of the world and it leads to inconsistent practices. Whilst going beyond this may be necessary in a few jurisdictions and for certain cases (i.e., this would be determined in legislation), exclusions of entities or additions by individual firms would be far less appropriate from a stakeholder’s and public interest perspective.

IFAC’s Professional Accountants in Business (PAIB) Advisory Group has compiled insights on key global trends impacting the future readiness of the accountancy profession in a new report Enabling Purpose Driven Organizations: PAIBs Leading Sustainability and Digital Transformation.

This report includes highlights from the PAIB March 2021 meeting, focusing on:

• Enabling value creation and sustainability 
• Delivering on climate change 
• How procurement and supply chain operating models are changing the role of finance functions 
• The changing nature of work and remote finance Gen Z and the future of accountancy 
• Public sector priorities to support COVID-19 recovery

IFAC PAIB Advisory Group Chair Sanjay Rughani says: “It is important we continue to drive forward the key areas of the PAIB agenda and share our learnings across the global accountancy profession. Together, we can enable a PAIB-relevant profession that is attractive to the new generation entering the workforce.”

Access the report and additional insights.