The global forum of securities regulators has hailed the finalisation of an ethics standard for the assurance of sustainability-related information.

In a statement, IOSCO said the final standard developed by the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA), together with the board’s plan to develop capacity-building efforts, “can contribute to enhancing trust in the sustainability-related information provided to investors”.

“History has shown us that assurance is necessary to deliver trust in disclosures, which is instrumental for the good functioning of financial markets,” said Jean-Paul Servais, chair of IOSCO.

“[The] announcement from IESBA is a welcome development, providing a robust ethical framework for the assurance of sustainability reporting.”

IOSCO is calling on national securities regulators to contemplate ways in which they might apply or otherwise be informed by the new standard when considering requirements for assurance within their jurisdictional arrangements.

“IOSCO will continue to play a key role in promoting global consistency in the assurance of sustainability-related information”, added Servais.

IESBA’s Global Ethics Sustainability Standard will be officially launched next week, jointly with the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board’s general purpose standard for sustainability assurance (ISSA 5000).

The International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN), an institutional investor body, has called on national regulators to adopt the newly developed standards, saying that many investors are concerned that corporate sustainability disclosures may contain some unsupported claims.

IOSCO complimented IESBA on the “extensive and thorough outreach programme” it had conducted throughout the lifecycle of the development of the International Ethics Standards for Sustainability Assurance (including International Independence Standards) (IESSA).

Gabriela Figueiredo Dias, chair of IESBA, said: “The certification of IESBA’s new ethics standards framework for Sustainability and Experts, along with IOSCO’s call for its members to adopt or be informed by the framework, marks a significant step to cement ethics as the foundation of trust and accountability in sustainability reporting and assurance.

“The global sustainability standards infrastructure is now complete, with the ethics piece providing foundational instruments to underpin transparent, relevant and trustworthy sustainability information.”

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