The International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation trustees have named Sue Lloyd, who is currently vice-chair of the International Accounting Standards Board, as vice-chair of the newly formed International Sustainability Standards Board, while Janine Guillot, who is currently CEO of the Value Reporting Foundation, has been tapped as special advisor to ISSB chair Emmanuel Faber, effective Feb. 1, 2022.
The IFRS Foundation also oversees the IASB and announced the
Financial regulators have been pressuring the various organizations that set environmental, social and governance reporting standards and frameworks to come together and agree on a common set of standards as ESG funds gain popularity among investors and the pace of climate change continues to accelerate. The move to include Lloyd as vice chair promises to bolster the involvement of the IASB with the ISSB in coordinating international accounting standards with sustainability standards. Last December, the IFRS Foundation trustees named Faber, a former chair and CEO of the food producer Danone, as the
As vice-chair, Lloyd will support Faber and focus on the ISSB’s work on technical standard-setting issues and developments. She has been a member of the IASB since 2014 and vice-chair since 2016. She has also served as chair of the IFRS Interpretations Committee. In addition to her responsibilities at the IASB, since 2020 she has played a leading role in establishing the ISSB, serving as an IASB representative on the Technical Readiness Working Group (TRWG), which was formed by the IFRS trustees to start the technical work of the ISSB. She was due to complete her final term as IASB vice-chair at the end of 2023. Lloyd will serve an initial four-year term at the ISSB. The IFRS trustees have started the process of identifying successors for her current roles at the IASB.
“I’m excited to take on this new challenge within the IFRS Foundation and about the opportunity to use my experience to assist in the creation of the ISSB and its delivery of sustainability standards for the global capital markets,” Lloyd said in a statement Thursday. “I’ve enjoyed my time on the IASB and look forward to working closely with both old and new colleagues across the organization in my new role.”
Guillot, in her role as special advisor, will provide strategic advice and counsel to Faber, as well as the trustees, with specific responsibilities for the consolidation of the VRF into the IFRS Foundation and the establishment of the ISSB. She has been CEO of the VRF since it was formed through the merger of SASB and the IIRC last year. Before that, Guillot was CEO of SASB and led the establishment and widespread acceptance of SASB Standards as the industry-specific sustainability disclosure standards for the global capital markets. Prior to that, she was chief operating investment officer of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS). She was also a member of the TRWG. She will serve a two-year term, renewable for one year, at the ISSB.
“The formation of the ISSB is a historic opportunity to establish a global sustainability disclosure standard-setter for the financial markets,” Guillot said in a statement. “The consolidation of the VRF and CDSB into the IFRS Foundation will provide a running start for the work of the ISSB and enable strong connectivity between the ISSB and IASB. I look forward to working with Emmanuel and Sue to help take comparable and reliable sustainability disclosure for the financial markets to a truly global level.”
The new board seems to be taking shape rapidly. “I am delighted they are moving as quickly as they are,” said Tim Gearty, national director and editor-in-chief at Becker Professional Education, which provides training in ESG reporting and auditing for accountants. “We need global standards, and obviously the International Sustainability Standards Board seems to be the predominant winner in this case, as far as creating that, and all of the groups that have rallied around them have been very impressive. We’ve had the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board and the International Integrated Reporting Council. They formed the Value Reporting Foundation. They and the Climate Disclosure Standards Board have now all been consolidated into the ISSB. Finding the leaders at this point in time is critical, and bringing people aboard who had been in the accounting world I think brings an extra level of credibility to the organization.”
The ISSB may appoint a second vice-chair as well, but officials at the IFRS Foundation and the IASB praised both appointments. “Sue has been an exemplary vice-chair of the IASB, and we are delighted she will bring her skills and experience to helping Emmanuel establish the ISSB,” said Erkki Liikanen, chair of the IFRS Foundation Trustees, in a statement. “Janine’s contribution will also be essential in guiding work to integrate the VRF and CDSB teams into the IFRS family. I congratulate both on their appointments.”
“Sue brings a wealth of standard-setting experience and technical knowledge that will be vital to the ISSB,” Faber said in a statement. “She is already fully immersed in the topic, having been part of the working group developing the climate and general sustainability disclosure prototypes. Janine’s guidance on the integration of the VRF and her deep experience of global investors and US stakeholders will also greatly benefit the ISSB ―I welcome her to the team.”
“I congratulate Sue on her appointment as ISSB vice-chair and would like to thank her for the tremendous job she has done as IASB vice-chair and chair of the IFRS Interpretations Committee,” said IASB chair Andreas Barckow in a statement “Sue’s experience from the IASB will help facilitate the important connectivity between the IASB and the ISSB’s work, and I look forward to continuing working with her in her new role.”
The head of another ESG reporting standard-setter, the Global Reporting Initiative, also praised the two appointments. “I warmly welcome Sue Lloyd and Janine Guillot to these roles with the ISSB. Sue Lloyd brings a wealth of experience in standard setting to the ISSB, which complements Janine’s extensive knowledge of enterprise value reporting,” said GRI CEO Eelco van der Enden in a statement Friday. “Through her leadership positions with SASB, GRI has regularly and constructively worked with Janine over a number of years, which I am sure will continue. I also look forward to discussions in the near future with Sue Lloyd, and Emmanuel Faber, on how our two organizations can align to improve corporate transparency. To do so will require stronger financial disclosure that reflects sustainability risks, as the ISSB is setting out to achieve, along with wide-ranging reporting on sustainability impacts, as enabled by the GRI standards. If businesses are to be held accountable and meet the transparency expectations of their stakeholders, comprehensive reporting against both of these pillars is a prerequisite. I am confident that GRI and the ISSB can collaborate to achieve these aims.”
