The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) congratulates the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) on achieving an important milestone by publishing for consultation the exposure draft of their International Standard on Sustainability Assurance (ISSA) 5000, General Requirements for Sustainability Assurance Engagements. IOSCO also congratulates the IAASB on an extensive and thorough outreach program conducted during the consultation period in which IOSCO representatives took an active role.
IOSCO has closely analyzed the proposed standards, monitored the stakeholder feedback around the world on the IAASB proposal, and engaged with the IAASB in order to provide a capital markets perspective and encourage them to consider some of the resulting key messages and priorities as set out in IOSCO’s accompanying Statement.
Way forward
With IOSCO’s recent endorsement of the inaugural sustainability disclosure standards of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), IOSCO considers that having assurance (and ethical) standards in place is a prerequisite for achieving consistently prepared and independently assured sustainability disclosures by issuers of securities across the globe.
In that sense, IOSCO will continue its work to support a corporate reporting ecosystem aimed at enhancing trust in the quality of sustainability-related financial information provided to the market, and sees the Proposed ISSA 5000 as an important step in delivering an assurance framework for end-2024 sustainability disclosures by market issuers. IOSCO continues to encourage continued close engagement as the standard-setters advance their respective work programs to foster compatibility between international financial reporting, sustainability reporting, and assurance standards.
Jean-Paul Servais, Chair of the Board of IOSCO, commented: “This is an impressive milestone that will help ensure the finalization of a sound corporate sustainability-related reporting ecosystem for the 2024 end of year accounts, as I called for during COP27 in 2023. I congratulate Tom Seidenstein, the IAASB Chair and all the IAASB staff for this achievement. The task ahead is not easy, but it is of crucial importance that market participants and others have their say in the consultation, and that the standard is suitable for all assurance providers, responsive to public interest and finalized in a timely manner.”
Rodrigo Buenaventura, the Chair of IOSCO’s Sustainable Finance Taskforce, commented: “This is an important moment in enhancing trust in the sustainability information disclosed to investors. IOSCO has reviewed the draft standard from a global capital markets perspective considering the issues of market integrity, investor protection and matters raised in our March 2023 report, and will continue to engage proactively with the IAASB on this journey.”
