NBAA @50: Professionalism, public interest and sustainability

What you need to know:

Over the last 50 years, NBAA has registered tremendous achievement on many fronts - not least that (as per May 2022 records) it now has more than 10,000 active qualified accountants (registered at different levels such as graduate accountants, certified public accountants (“CPAs”) and CPAs in public practice) and has registered and regulates 450 accountancy and audit firms

The quality of reporting by “Those Charged with Governance” must continue to improve. For example, the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (“DSE”) and Bank of Tanzania (”BoT”) have already issued regulations/guidelines on sustainability reporting. NBAA will certainly be keenly following the discussion on two exposure drafts of sustainability standards issued by the International Sustainability Standard Board (“ISSB”) and will move swiftly to action once the standards become effective. ISSB was mandated to deliver a comprehensive global baseline of sustainability-related disclosure standards that provide investors and other capital market participants with information about companies’ sustainability-related risks and opportunities to help them make informed decisions. Accountants must resist the pressure to participate in so-called “greenwashing”, being misleading corporate disclosure on ESG seeking to convey achievements way beyond the actual performance.

Lastly, there is an ongoing discussion around separation of roles between member services and regulatory responsibilities. Under the current structure, NBAA has the mandate to perform both roles which at times has led to a perception of conflict of interest. Those in support of the initiatives to separate the member services activities from regulatory ones argue that such separation would give the regulatory body the required autonomy and independence to set standards, supervise and enforce compliance. It appears that the majority of the advanced economies opted for this separation route many years back and similar discussions are ongoing in some neighbouring countries. Certainly, there are nuances that the responsible Ministry and Parliament will have to navigate to enable such a gigantic change but I do hope it will not take another 50 years.

NBAA @50: Professionalism, public interest and sustainability

What you need to know:

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