SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce Urges IFRS Foundation Not To Develop Sustainability Standards Board

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce urged the International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") Foundation (the "Foundation") not to develop an International Sustainability Standard Board ("ISSB") because it would (i) inappropriately "equate sustainability standards with financial reporting standards," (ii) weaken the Foundation's existing investor-centered work and (iii) raise substantial governance concerns.

In a comment letter on the Foundation's proposed amendments to its Constitution to develop an ISSB to set IFRS sustainability standards, Ms. Peirce emphasized that sustainability standards are fundamentally different from accounting standards in that (i) the sole focus of financial reporting is to produce an accurate depiction of the finances of a company for investors through measurable, reportable and auditable factors, and (ii) there is no universally agreed upon or consistent objective of sustainability standard-setting and sustainability reporting. Ms.