IESBA Looks to Set Standards on Ethical Behaviour

A standard-setting project on accounting firm culture and governance has been launched by the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA).

The initiative is the result of recommendations of the IESBA’s Working Group’s report on Firm Culture and Governance. Key findings of the report include:

• The role of ethical leadership and robust governance within accounting firms as key drivers in creating a culture that promotes ethical behaviour.
• The importance of transparent and ethical leadership, firm-wide accountability mechanisms and the provision of independent input.
• The need for alignment of performance incentives with ethical behaviour, continuous ethics education, and a culture of open discussion and challenge.

The standard-setting project aims to develop a principles-based culture and governance framework for accounting firms that promotes, supports and reinforces a high standard of ethical behaviour across all their professional services.

The IESBA will conduct a series of in-person and virtual global roundtables in March and April 2025 to gather views from a broad range of stakeholders. The in-person roundtables will be held in New York; Melbourne, Brussels and Kuala Lumpur.  

Gabriela Figueiredo Dias, Chair of the IESBA, said: “Ethics is foundational to the work of all accounting firms and all the professionals therein. It is their gateway to public trust in their professional services. I commend the Working Group on tabling a comprehensive report, identifying the key areas of focus we will be probing carefully and systematically, in collaboration with stakeholders, as we seek to develop a global framework for culture and governance for firms. It is our strong conviction that this framework will enable firms to be highly ethical firms consistently, strengthening their resilience against risks of unethical behaviour, maintaining a good reputation, and ensuring their long-term sustainability to serve clients, investors, other stakeholders, and the public interest.”

The topic of accounting firm culture and governance is a strategic priority for the IESBA following a spate of high-profile cases of unethical behaviour in accounting firms in several jurisdictions in recent years. These cases have led to adverse consequences for individual professional accountants and their firms in multiple jurisdictions.

The International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA) is an independent global standard-setting board. The IESBA’s mission is to serve the public interest by setting high-quality, international ethics (including independence) standards as a cornerstone to ethical behaviour in business.

“Ethics is foundational to the work of all accounting firms and all the professionals therein. It is their gateway to public trust in their professional services. I commend the Working Group on tabling a comprehensive report, identifying the key areas of focus we will be probing carefully and systematically, in collaboration with stakeholders, as we seek to develop a global framework for culture and governance for firms.”

Gabriela Figueiredo Dias, Chair of the IESBA,