SEC Engages Stakeholders On Int’l Financial Standards Adoption

The Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), NGX Regulation Limited (NGX RegCo), and Ernest &Youn (EY) engaged cardinal stakeholders successful the adoption of the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards, IFRS S1 and IFRS S2 (ISSB Standards).

The Lagos grooming seeks to supply a method grooming programme designed to enactment high-quality disclosures by helping preparers recognize the requirements of the ISSB Standards.

Speaking astatine the ISSB Preparer Readiness Training connected the roadmap for implementing IFRS S1 and S2 standards successful Lagos, the director-general of SEC, Emomotimi Agama, said that the adoption of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) disclosure model volition assistance trim accusation risk, little the outgo of superior for issuers, and physique stronger capitalist assurance successful Nigeria’s superior markets.

He explained that alignment with the ISSB planetary baseline is cardinal to improving transparency and making Nigerian companies much charismatic to some home and planetary investors.

“The SEC’s precedence is clear, comparable, decision-useful disclosures that heighten investors’ knowing of hazard management, currency travel resilience, and modulation strategies,” helium said.

Agama, who was represented by the Commission’s head, Lagos Zonal Office, John Briggs, stated that arsenic a subordinate of the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), the SEC is actively participating successful the ISSB Standards Adoption Readiness Work Group (ARWG), which designed Nigeria’s roadmap for phased implementation.

According to the Commission, aboriginal adopters began reporting voluntarily successful 2024, with afloat mandatory adoption to beryllium staged betwixt 2027 and 2030. The timeline volition spot important Public Interest Entities (PIEs) adopted by 2027, followed by different PIEs successful 2028, and tiny and mean enterprises by 2030.

Agama said the Commission would follow a progressive approach, saying that “the SEC volition statesman with review-based supervision and ‘comply oregon explain’ expectations, moving progressively towards afloat enforcement arsenic preparer and assurance capableness deepens.”

The enforcement secretary/CEO, Financial Reporting Council (FRC) of Nigeria Dr. Rabiu Olowo noted that the ISSB modular represents a important measurement towards achieving planetary consistency and broad reporting.

He noted that arsenic stakeholders embarked connected preparing ISSB training, it recognized the committedness of entities with the cognition that are indispensable to navigate the adoption of ISSB standards successful enactment with the adoption roadmap that was laid retired past year.

He reiterated that Nigeria successful 2022 had taken a bold measurement to denote of adoption of ISSB standards

Olowo said, “the adoption of the ISSD modular is driven by aggregate issues. It is retired of transparency, consistency, reliability, sustainable concern accusation that is captious for informed determination making. Investors, regulators, improvement partners and the wide nationalist are progressively demanding disclosures that spell beyond fiscal show that seizure climate-related opportunities and different sustainability that signifier semipermanent fiscal issues of an organisation.”

He further disclosed that enactment was underway with the FRCN and NGX to alteration integer reporting done taxonomy-driven, machine-readable disclosures that amended entree to accusation for investors.

Agama besides highlighted ongoing efforts to coordinate capitalist practices to trim duplication of reporting requirements, stating that the Commission was engaging pension funds, plus managers, improvement concern institutions, and organization investors done platforms specified arsenic the Capital Market Master Plan Implementation Council (CAMMIC) to harmonise sustainability accusation requests.