Accounting
Accounting Standards Boards Collaborate To Improve Corporate Disclosures
Partnership focuses on accelerating the practical implementation of Integrated Reporting
Jan. 15, 2014
The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) have announced the development of a Memorandum of Understanding to more closely collaborate to advance the evolution of corporate disclosure and communicate value to investors.
The memorandum of understanding, signed by SASB founder and executive director Dr. Jean Rogers and IIRC CEO Paul Druckman, outlines the basis for ongoing cooperation, collaboration and alignment between the two organizations. Among other measures, SASB and the IIRC agree to strive for complementarity and compatibility in the ongoing development of their respective frameworks, guidelines and standards, and take proactive measures to share the work of the other organization.
Commenting on the Memorandum, IIRC CEO, Paul Druckman stated, “We will work with SASB to identify ways and means by which the International Framework and SASB standards can be aligned to strengthen corporate reporting and disclosure.”
“SASB's standards are a practical implementation of integrated reporting in the context of U.S. capital markets,” says Dr. Rogers. “The missions of SASB and the IIRC are aligned, and formalizing our partnership will strengthen harmonization and guidance to companies regarding improved disclosure on material sustainability factors. Both organizations put investors at the heart of determining materiality.”
Through 2015 SASB is developing sustainability accounting standards for more than 80 industries in ten sectors. In December 2013 the IIRC released the International Integrated Reporting Framework to provide principles-based guidance for companies wishing to prepare an integrated report, and to provide impetus to greater innovation in corporate reporting globally.