Maintaining trust and confidence in companies, markets, and economies during a crisis is the fastest path to recovery after a crisis. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to present unexpected challenges globally, maintaining this trust must remain a priority.
IFAC’s new Point-of-View, Maintaining Trust & Confidence During a Crisis, explores how different participants in the economy can work together to navigate challenges and instill trust during both the current pandemic and in future times of uncertainty.
Professional accountants provide the strategic and operational expertise, integrity, reliability, and transparency needed for economies to function during challenging times. Organizations who provide high-quality information help maintain confidence in and facilitate economic recovery after any crisis. High-quality information serves to improve stakeholder understanding, sustain capital flows and instill credibility in reporting entities.
Through this lens, IFAC examines the role of three key stakeholder groups in maintaining trust:
Senior management and those with governance responsibility, who must ensure their organizations report high-quality information;
Regulators, who serve to protect investors and stakeholders that rely on the information companies provide; and
Professional accountants, who must draw upon their training, expertise, and ethical responsibility to carry out their public interest mandate and facilitate the delivery of high-quality information.
As a knowledge convener, IFAC continues to share web-based resources from its members and other stakeholders in response to COVID-19. This new Point-of-View builds upon existing guidance to provide thinking that can be applied to both current challenges and future crises.
In this statement, IFAC CEO Kevin Dancey, and Richard Chambers, President and CEO of The Institute of Internal Auditors (The IIA) share specific recommendations for organizations to more vigorously confront uncertainties and turmoil that may threaten their integrity, transparency, and accountability. These recommendations are part of a call-to-action for audit committees given current and future challenges.
