PETALING JAYA: The Asean Capital Markets Forum (ACMF) today marked the launch of the International Sustainability Standards Board’s (ISSB) two inaugural IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards (ISSB Standards) with a joint conference and technical training sessions in Singapore.
The two-day event is part of a global programme of events to mark the launch of the ISSB Standards – general sustainability disclosure requirements and climate-related disclosure requirements.
The ISSB was created by the IFRS Foundation at COP26 in Glasgow in November 2021 to develop a global baseline of sustainability disclosures to meet global investors’ need for information about sustainability-related risks and opportunities. Its work is encouraged by the Group of 20, the International Organization of Securities Commissions and others.
The ACMF, as part of its efforts to drive sustainable development through the capital markets, has developed a Roadmap for Asean Sustainable Capital Markets, which includes promoting corporate sustainability disclosures as a priority recommendation.
To this end, the ACMF has been collaborating with the ISSB to raise awareness of and build capacity on the ISSB Standards.
The ACMF-ISSB joint conference and technical training sessions build on the ongoing regular dialogue between the ACMF and the ISSB, as the ACMF evaluates the feasibility of adopting the ISSB Standards based on each jurisdiction’s own legal and regulatory arrangements with respect to international standards, in a way that promotes consistent and comparable sustainability disclosures across Asean.
The joint conference took place today with online participation too. More than 1,000 Asean regulators, investors, corporates and other stakeholders participated in the event, of which over 200 attended in-person.
The technical training sessions to be held today are dedicated to regulators (in-person mode) and corporate preparers (hybrid mode). The sessions will provide a deeper dive into the technical aspects of the ISSB Standards and the practical implications for regulators and corporate preparers respectively.
Inarno Djajadi of the Indonesian Financial Services Authority, who is the ACMF chair, said: “Asean securities regulators play a significant role in supporting the region’s commitment to sustainability. We welcome the launch of the ISSB Standards and look forward to fruitful discussions about how the ISSB’s global baseline can be incorporated in the Asean region.”
ISSB vice-chair Jingdong Hua said, “ISSB Standards are designed to deliver a high-quality global baseline of sustainability-related disclosures to meet investors’ information needs, thus contributing to the well-functioning of capital markets globally. We look forward to continuing our engagement with stakeholders across the Asean about adoption of the global baseline.”
The conference was organised with support from Asian Development Bank which has been ACMF’s development partner since its establishment in 2004.
