ESG Regulatory Reporting Conference: How to Comply With Regulations and Investor Expectations Webinar

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ESG Regulatory Reporting Conference: How to Comply With Regulations and Investor Expectations Webinar

CPE Credit: 8 Hours

Price: $599.00

NASBA Field of Study: Accounting

 

Overview

ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) principles and criteria continue to be emphasized more and more as they become increasingly important in terms of meeting regulators’ reporting requirements as well as attracting the desired investors, suppliers, and potential workforce. ESG is not only becoming mandatory, it is now a popular way for companies to enhance their image and to demonstrate their commitment to being a reliable business that holds themselves to a high standard of accountability.

This conference will focus on how to go about meeting those expectations set by regulators and investors. During this practical and up-to-date conference, you will hear from experts from Big 4 accounting firms and other industry specialists who will show you how to comply with ESG standards, how to collect data, and how to enhance ESG reporting.

 

AGENDA HIGHLIGHTS

•  Overall ESG Reporting Landscape

•  SEC Rules Update

•  CSRD: Present Reality

•  COSO Guidance on ESG Reporting

•  ESG Assurance Considerations Including Third Party Assurance on Greenhouse Gas Emissions

•  ESG Data Collection Aggregation & Technology Applications Considerations

•  Company & Board Member Liability in ESG Reporting

•  Industry Panel Discussion on Complying with ESG Reporting

•  Role of ESG Controller

Agenda

CONFERENCE AGENDA


Welcome & Opening Remarks
8:45
 – 9:00 AM

Overall ESG Reporting Landscape
9:00
 – 9:45 AM
Voluntary ESG reporting has become commonplace with a majority of S&P 500 companies now issuing some form of ESG, Sustainability, or Impact report. Smaller companies are beginning to participate as well, and stakeholder interest remains high for this type of information to aid in decision making. This session will answer the following questions:  
• Why does ESG reporting matter?
What are companies actually reporting in terms of frameworks and standards?
• What types of goals and targets are being set?
• What percentage of reporting companies are obtaining voluntary third-party assurance?
• How are private company suppliers being impacted?

Break
9:45 – 9:50 AM

SEC Rules Update
9:50
 – 10:45 AM
The most recent SEC proposal has come under significant debate, including the threat of litigation and several postponements of approval. This session will discuss: climate related matters and risks; reporting of greenhouse gas emissions; third-party assurance requirements; establishing footnotes in financial statements and requirements of any approved final rules.  

Break
10:45 – 10:50 AM

CSRD: Present Reality
10:50 – 11:30 AM
The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is clearly the most comprehensive, detailed, and challenging sustainability reporting legislation that is now EU law. It is anticipated to ultimately apply to an estimated 50,000 companies. Not only will it be applicable to EU listed companies, it will require any organization operating in the EU meeting certain size thresholds to report under this regime. This includes US stock exchange and even private US organizations if they meet certain criteria. In the very first year of reporting, limited third-party assurance is required. This session will cover:  
• How the EU Green Deal created CSRD
• Structure of the CSRD requirements under the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS)
  that serve as the specific reporting criteria
• Implementation timetable sizing thresholds
• How US based organizations are impacted

Break
11:30
 – 11:35 AM

COSO Guidance on ESG Reporting
11:35 AM – 12:10 PM
In March 2023, the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission, (COSO) issued new supplemental guidance entitled: Achieving Effective Internal Control Over Sustainability Reporting (ICSR). Using the globally recognized 2013 COSO Internal Control – Integrated Framework (ICIF), the intended outcome according to COSO is “to build trust and confidence in ESG reporting, public disclosures and enterprise decision-making.” We will discuss the following issues:
• Why was the guidance issued now?
• Structure of the guidance and relationship to the 2013 ICIF
• What does the guidance say and how should it be applied?
• Top ten takeaways from the authors

Lunch
12:10
 – 12:55 PM

ESG Assurance Considerations Including Third Party Assurance on Greenhouse Gas Emissions
12:55– 1:55 PM
Assurance ranges from management controls through internal audit and up to external assurance opinions. The most widely used external assurance standard for non-financial information is ISAE 3000 (UK), ISAE 3410, and AICPA attestation standards for greenhouse gas (GHG) KPIs. In this session, participants will understand:   
• How GHG is part of a regulatory disclosure regime
SEC proposal on GHG Scope 1, 2, and 3 emission reporting
• Standards of reporting
• Non-financial reporting auditing standards

Break
1:55 – 2:00 PM

ESG Data Collection Aggregation & Technology Applications Considerations
2:00 – 2:40 PM
In order for ESG reporting to be fully effective, businesses need to increase the focus on quality of data collection. But this also requires adapting to the differences in which data collection is handled considering that traditional data collection methods may not apply to the types of data needed for sustained ESG growth. Both existing and new pieces of data and automation must be considered. In this session, participants will get insights on:  
• Identification of opportunities to transition from conventional methods of data collection to
  automatically collect and transform the data, and then store it in cloud servers
• Establishing a process of collection of ESG data, transformation, and storage in the repository or
  database
• Key challenges, best practices, tools, and assessments related to aggregation and reporting

Break
2:40 – 2:45 PM

Company & Board Member Liability in ESG Reporting
2:45 – 3:15 PM
Under US securities laws, all public company disclosures must be accurate and complete in all material respects and not materially misleading. Materially misleading or false statements or omissions may subject the company to private securities lawsuits as well as to SEC enforcement actions under various provisions of US securities law. As a result, ESG disclosures, whether in SEC filings or other reports or on a company website, can create significant litigation and enforcement risks if not carefully prepared and reviewed. This session will present the views of lawyers and board members on this subject including several enforcement examples.  

Break
3:15 – 3:20 PM

Industry Panel Discussion on Complying with ESG Reporting
3:20 – 4:30 PM
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) has become a permanent addition to public company corporate reporting and performance measurement. It is also creating additional customer reporting mandates for private companies. Stakeholders, such as investors, regulators, employees, and customers are requesting, and even demanding, greater transparency. Accuracy and completeness are expected now at the same level of maturity as financial disclosure and performance. In this session, a panel of industry practitioners moderated by a Big 4 accounting leader will discuss:   
• Making ESG an integral part of strategy and governance
• The transition from voluntary to regulated reporting under three regimes—US SEC, ISSB and CSRD
• Global convergence of ESG standards and regional requirements
• Integrating ESG into Enterprise Risk management
• Internal Control over Sustainability Reporting (ICSR)
• Assurance requirements and standards for assurers

Break
4:30 – 4:35 PM

Role of ESG Controller
4:35
 – 5:05 PM
As companies continue to adjust to the growing need for ESG reporting and transparency, the new and evolving role of the ESG controller must become firmly established and understood. This vital leadership position will certainly be experiencing some inconsistent and unpredictable challenges. This session will help ease the potential uncertainty in how to establish and support this new role by discussing the ESG controller’s expected duties and how a company should go about making sure this position is efficiently set up for success. We will discuss:  
• The specific duties of the ESG controller
How a company should approach the creation of the position
• Necessary traits vital to the future success of the role
• Key activities that will fall under the jurisdiction of the controller
Who the ESG controller will report to and where he/she falls within the overall organizational structure
  of the company

Closing Remarks
5:05 – 5:15 PM

Conference Ends
5:15 PM

Speakers

CONFERENCE SPEAKERS


Brad Aiello, Senior Manager, EY

Lauren Assaf-Holmes, Senior Associate, Gibson Dunn

Thomas Choquette, Finance Executive, Advisory, KPMG

Tori Hack, Senior Manager, EY

Stefan Hirschi, Partner, Sustainability, EY

Robert Hirth, Senior Managing Director, Protiviti, Member, PCAOB & AICPA

Liora Hostyk, Manager, Climate Change and Sustainability Services, EY

Marie Johnson, Partner, Business Consulting, EY

Denise Lucas, Director of Accounting Policy and Financial Reporting, IBM

Brian Mace, Managing Director, Finance Transformation, KPMG

Dan Morrin, Director, KPMG ESG Center of Excellence

Anne Munaretto, Partner, Climate Change and Sustainability Services, EY

Lindsey Panzer, Associate Director, Protiviti

Susan Resley, Partner, Morgan Lewis

Shannon Roberts, Principal, EHS, Climate Change and Sustainability Services, EY

Cara Samz, Senior Manager, EY

Mark Siegel, Corporate & ESG Reporting Thought Leader, PwC

Jana Utter, Vice President of Enterprise Risk Management, Centene Corporation

Steve Wang, Managing Director and US ESG Engagement Leader, Protiviti

Sara Watson, Global Leader of ESG Policy, Controls, and Assurance, Amazon

Margaret Weidner, Senior Manager, ESG Reporting and Climate Change and Sustainability, EY

Simon Wong, Senior Consulting Manager, EY

Chris Wright, Managing Director, Protiviti

Workshop

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