Intergovernmental working group of experts on international standards of accounting and reporting, 38th session

Rebeca Grynspan, of Costa Rica, became UNCTAD's eighth Secretary-General on 13 September 2021 and is the first woman to lead the organization.

Prior to her UNCTAD appointment, she was the Ibero-American secretary-general from 2014 to 2021, also the first woman to head the organization. During her mandate, she has coordinated the 22-member Iberoamerican Conference and led four key summits of Heads of State and Government. 

In 2010 she was appointed Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Associate Administrator of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and prior to that was UNDP Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean.  

Prior to joining the United Nations, Ms. Grynspan served as Vice-President of Costa Rica from 1994 to 1998. She was also Minister of Housing, Minister Coordinator of Economic and Social Affairs, and Deputy Minister of Finance. In 2021 she was named Special International Advisor to the newly created Economic and Social Council of Argentina and invited to join as member of the G20 High-Level Independent Panel on Financing the Global Commons for Pandemic Preparedness and Response.

In addition to her experience as a lecturer and advisor to several international organizations, she has been actively involved in key United Nations initiatives, such as the Millennium Project's Task Force on Poverty and Economic Development and the High-level Panel on Financing for Development.  

In 2014 and 2015, she was recognized as one of the 50 leading intellectuals of Latin America.  And she was recognized as one of the 100 most powerful women in Central America by Forbes magazine.

Ms Grynspan holds a degree in Economics by the University of Costa Rica and a MSc in Economics by the University of Sussex. She has been awarded a Doctorate Honoris Causa by the University of Salamanca, the University of Extremadura and the European University of Madrid in recognition of her outstanding professional achievements. 

James X. Zhan is director of investment and enterprise at UNCTAD. He leads the team of the World Investment Report and is editor-in-chief of the Transnational Corporations journal. He chairs the Governing Board of the UN Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative (with all major stock exchanges worldwide as members). He has provided policy advice to numerous governments (including heads of states and cabinets) and parliaments, and global summits (including G20 and BRICS). He led the formulation of global guidelines for a new generation of investment policies, which are used in over 100 countries. He also led the establishment of the World Investment Forum. He is chief strategist for the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies and was Global Agenda Council member of the World Economic Forum. He has held several advisory positions in academic institutions (including at Cambridge University, Columbia University and Cornell University and Oxford University). He has extensive publications on investment, trade and technology related economic and legal issues.

Debora M. Ponce, Guatemalan Lawyer and Notary Public with a Master in International and European Commercial and Economic Law from the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. Currently working as a Counsellor for the Mission of Guatemala to the WTO, UNCTAD and ITC. Has an expertise in Trade, Investment, Development, Environment, Regional Trade Agreements, Fisheries Subsidies, Dispute Settlement, SMEs and E-commerce.  Currently representing the Government of Guatemala in the Consultative Group of on Enterprise Reporting and the SDGs.

I am Maria Ria Nonyana-Mokabane LLD, Chief Director - Legislative Drafting in the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic), South Africa; a member of the Access to Justice Programme with the South African Human Rights Commission; a Judge for the Africa Regional Manfred Lach's Moot Court Competition of the International Institute of Space Law; the representative of the dtic in the Inter-governmental Working Group at the United Nations Human Rights Council on Transnational Corporations and Other Business Entities on Business and Human Rights; and the focal coordinator to UNCTAD’s Technical Cooperation Development Account project on <em>Enabling policy frameworks for enterprise sustainability and Sustainable Development Goals SDGs Agenda 2030, reporting in Africa and Latin America</em>.

Dr. Ahmad AlMeghames is the CEO of Saudi Organisation for Chartered and Professional Accountants (SOCPA) since 2006, and serves on its board of directors, in addition to administrative positions he holds and committees in which he participates that include: Member of the Technical Committee at the Ministry of Finance for the project of transforming government agencies to the Accrual basis of accounting, Member of the Real Estate Contributions Committee, Member of ISAR, and Member of the consulting committee for the Gulf Cooperation Council Accounting and Auditing Organization (GCCAAO).

Dr. AlMeghames holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration in Accounting from Mississippi State University, USA, a Master of Business Administration, Majoring in Accounting, University of Bridgeport, USA, and a bachelor's degree in accounting from King Saud University, Saudi Arabia.
 

Seema was appointed the Technical Director of the UK Endorsement Board in June 2020. Between January 2017 to April 2020, Seema worked at the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy as the Head of Accounting and Reporting Policy. Seema led the team responsible for maintaining the integrity of UK’s Accounting and Reporting Framework as the UK exited the EU. In that role, Seema also represented the UK at the European Commission’s Accounting Regulatory Committee, Council working groups, the UN’s Accounting Expert Group and at numerous UN conferences.

Prior to that, Seema worked as an accounting standard setter at the FRC and its predecessor, the ASB, specialising in the development of financial instrument and insurance standards. Seema started her career as an auditor of listed and investment banking clients.

Seema is a fellow of the Institute for Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

Ian Carruthers became Chair of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB) in 2016, having been a Board Member since 2010. As a Board Member he led IPSASB’s work on Long Term Financial Sustainability and alignment between IPSASs and Government Finance Statistics. IPSAS issued during Ian’s chairmanship so far include those on Social Benefits and Financial Instruments. Having completed his second term (2019 – 2021), Ian has now been reappointed as IPSASB Chair for a third term through to the end of 2024.

After joining HM Treasury from PricewaterhouseCoopers in 1999, Ian played a key role in the UK Government’s transition from cash to accrual budgeting and reporting, in particular leading its Whole of Government Accounts program. He joined CIPFA in 2006. As part-time Chair, CIPFA Standards, Ian has been involved in all aspects of the Institute’s guidance development activities, including leading its work on the Role of the Public Services CFO, and the development of the International Framework for Good Governance in the Public Sector in partnership with IFAC.

Ariela Caglio is Associate Professor of Management Accounting and Performance Measurement at Bocconi University. She has been a visiting academic at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and at the University of Manchester. Ariela has researched extensively the role of sustainability and integrated reporting in different settings. She has recently received a grant from the IMA (Institute of Management Accountants) Research Foundation for a project titled “Sustainable Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and new communication technologies. From a ‘push’ to a ‘pull’ notion of value and corporate reporting”. She has published numerous articles and academic papers in prestigious journals, as well as books and research reports. She is the Director of the Bocconi-ESSEC Double Degree and has trusted expertise in teaching, also at MBA and executive levels. Ariela Caglio sits in the Management Committee of the European Accounting Association (EAA).

Wilmar Franco is the Chairman of the Technical Council of Public Accounting in Colombia, the standard setter body on accounting, monitoring and reporting. He served as Consulting Manager at Baker Tilly Colombia in the area of IFRS. He also worked as a specialist advisor to the Institute of Industrial Promotion in the areas of credit, debt, securities desk, financial auditing and risk management.

Mr. Franco is an editor of several accounting and tax law publications, among them "The ABC of IFRS and Guide for first-time application of IFRS". Mr. Franco is a public accountant and post-graduate professor having lectured for over 20 years. He also holds a degree in Business Administration and an advanced diploma in organizational control systems from the University of the Andes.

Dr. Donna L. Street is Professor, Mahrt Chair in Accounting and Chairperson, Department of Accounting at the University of Dayton. She serves as Director of Research and Educational Activities of the International Association for Accounting Education and Research (IAAER) and previously served as the Association’s President, VP Research and VP Communications. She coordinates the IAAER KPMG research grant program to inform the IASB. Professor Street is a member of the UNCTAD-ISAR Accounting Research Network. Previously she served as President of the International Accounting Section of the American Accounting Association and received the section’s Outstanding International Accounting Educator Award and its Service Award. Professor Street’s research focuses primarily on international financial reporting issues including compliance and segment reporting.

Elsa Beatriz García Bojorges is the President of the Mexican Financial Reporting Standards Board – CINIF (Mexico). She also was Chair of the Intergovernmental Working Group of Experts on International Standards of Accounting and Reporting (ISAR Group) 38th Session and Chair of Latin American Regional Partnership for the promotion of sustainability and SDG reporting in 2022. She is a CINIF representative at the Sustainability Standards Advisory Forum (SSAF) of ISSB – IFRS Foundation and at the Emerging Economies Group of IASB – IFRS Foundation, a Board Member of Group of Latin American Standards Setters (GLASS), an Independent Board Member of several public and private companies.

Cliff Nyandoro is a professional accountant, trainer, and consultant with over 20 years of experience in financial management, accounting, and financial reporting. He is in charge of Standards and Technical Services at the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK) where he oversees the adoption and implementation of accounting and auditing standards in the country. He is the Secretary to the Professional Standards Committee of ICPAK, the Financial Reporting (FiRe) Award Secretariat and the ICPAK IFRS Panel.

Cliff is also a member of the global IFRS Advisory Council which provides strategic support to the IFRS Foundation, the Trustees, and the two Standards Setting Boards under the Foundation – the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB).

He is an active member of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD’s) intergovernmental group of experts on International Standards of Accounting and Reporting (ISAR), and Vice-Chair of the African Regional Partnership on Sustainability and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) reporting. Cliff holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree in Finance from the University of Nairobi where he is currently undertaking his PhD studies in the same specialisation.

Olga Bernatskaia is а Chair of the International Committee on Sustainable Development of the professional organizations of accountants and auditors of the Eurasian region (Accountancy EURASIA), Vice-President of Non-for-profit partnership «CPA», UNCTAD Consultant.  Olga has extensive experience in corporate governance and corporate reporting, including ESG reporting.

Mrs. Bernatskaia is the author of the "Eco-Environment ICPA in the Field of Sustainable Development", "Code of Ethics on Sustainable Development "ECO behavior code (EBC)" and "Eurasian Regional Initiative for the Development of Educational and Certification Programs in Sustainability Accounting and Reporting (ERIEC) – CertCSA" initiatives nominated for "ISAR Honours".

Mrs. Bernatskaia has more than 30 research papers, including papers on sustainable development and is a PhD candidate in economics.

Diplômé Etudes Supérieures Comptables de l’Institut National Polytechnique de Yamoussoukro (Côte d’Ivoire) et d’un Master Of Arts en Management et Organisation des Entreprises, option Stratégies et Organisation du Groupe ESC Pau (Franc), Drissa Koné, est également Expert-Comptable. Il est aussi titulaire d'un Mastère Spécialisé en Gestion Financière de HEC Paris (France).

Il occupe les fonctions suivantes : Directeur associé de SFAI Côte d’Ivoire Abcd Consulting, Président de l'Ordre des Experts-Comptables de Côte d'Ivoire (OEC CI), Président du Conseil Ouest-Africain de la Comptabilité de l'UEMOA. Membre également du Conseil d’Administration de la PAFA (siège en Afrique du Sud, Drissa Koné est depuis le 07 septembre 2022l le Président de l'Association des Experts-Comptables de l'Afrique de l'Ouest (ABWA basée au Nigeria) et vice-président du Conseil National de la Comptabilité de Côte d'Ivoire.

Drissa Koné est un Expert des Nations Unies, membre du Groupe de Travail Intergouvernemental, représentant la Côte d'Ivoire. Il participe aux activités ISAR de la CNUCED au Palais des Nations à Genève depuis 2010. Il est Conseiller du Ministre de l’Économie et des Finances de Côte d'Ivoire et aussi Expert technique de la Banque Mondiale auprès du Secrétaire Permanent de l'OHADA pour les questions de normalisation comptable, d’audit et d’assurance qualité.

Mr Kon Yin Tong is the President of the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA). He was the former President of the ASEAN Federation of Accountants (AFA), the umbrella organisation for the national accountancy bodies in ASEAN.

Mr Kon has been in the public accounting profession for more than 30 years and has been personally involved in many client engagements, including cross-border assignments. As Managing Partner of Foo Kon Tan LLP, he is responsible for the overall strategy and stewardship of the firm. His areas of practice cover litigation support and dispute resolution, including acting as an expert witness and as an assessor to the Court.

Mr Kon is a first-class honours graduate from the London School of Economics.

Nancy Kamp-Roelands is a professor non-financial information, integrated reporting and assurance at the University of Groningen. She is also a member of the Corporate Reporting Lab of the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group and a member of the committee reporting and accountancy of the Dutch Authority Financial Markets. She is a by Dutch Royal NBA certified public accountant combining international client experience with (international) standard setting and guidance development, teaching and research. Nancy has a long history of involvement in new reporting developments in organizations like the International Integrated Reporting Council, Global Reporting Initiative, Accountancy Europe, UNCTAD-ISAR, the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board, the Dutch Accounting Standards Board and the Dutch Auditing Standards Board. She had an award winning PhD in 2002 on Towards a Framework for Auditing Environmental Reports.

Vania Borgerth is a Board Member of International Ethics Standards Board for Accounting (IESBA), SHIFT Project and International Foundation for Valuing Impacts (IFVI) and a Commissioner  of CBPS (Brazilian Committee for Sustainability Pronouncements).

At ISSB (International Sustainabiltiy Standards Board), she represents the Brazilian Institute for Corporate Governance (IBGC) at the Integrated Reporting and Connectivity Council – IRCC (former IIRC) and CBPS at SSAF (Sustainability Standards Advisory Forum).  She is also a Member of the Expert Panel of Accounting for Sustainability – A4S.

Mrs. Borgerth is the Head of CBARI - the Brazilian Network for Integrated Reporting, ) and an Audit Committee Member at Banco Santander Brazil. She is a former executive at BNDES (The Brazilian Development Bank) and an active attendee of UNCTAD’s ISAR since 2007 (Chair of 32nd session).
 

Mario Abela is Director, Redefining Value at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development where he leads a number of initiatives aimed at helping companies to focus on longer term and sustainable value creation. He is a CPA and Chartered Management Accountant. His expertise is in corporate reporting and he has held senior management positions in both the private and public sectors in Australia, Belgium and the United Kingdom.

Mr. Abela has extensive regulatory and standard setting experience. He is a visiting professor at IESEG School of Management in Paris. He is also an expert advisor to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development on corporate reporting and has been involved in developing indicators for reporting against the SDGs.

Mr Müller joined the QFC Regulatory Authority in April 2012 as Director, Financial Analysis. He joined from the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) where, as Senior Executive: Standards, he influenced developments in international standard-setting and South African legislation and regulation. 

In October 2015 he was appointed as Director, Prudential Supervision (Banking and Asset Management) and Financial Analysis. In August 2016, he was appointed Managing Director, Supervision and Authorisation, with responsibility for banking, investment management, insurance, financial intermediaries, and anti-money laundering. 

Prior to his position with SAICA, Mr Müller held senior roles in financial management, regulation, financial analysis and investor relations, primarily in financial services. Mr Müller is a member of the Global Forum for Ethics. He serves on the Intergovernmental Working Group of Experts on International Standards on Accounting and Reporting of UNCTAD (which he chaired in 2014), and was previously Chairman of XBRL SA and a member of the King Committee on Corporate Governance, the Audit Committee Forum and the Corporate Governance Network of the Institute of Directors SA, and Qatar’s Financial Stability and Risk Control Committee. Mr Müller has presented at various international conferences hosted by organisations such as the World Bank, the United Nations, and IFAC, and was also an anchor on business radio and television.