Tashia Batstone, MBA, FCPA, FCA, ICD.D joined the IFAC Board in November 2021. She was nominated by the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada (CPA Canada). Ms. Batstone previously served as Technical Advisor on the IFAC Board and was a member of IFAC's Technical Advisory Committee.

Ms. Batstone is President and CEO of FP Canada, the leading body for the financial planning profession in Canada. Previously, Ms. Batstone held senior leadership roles within the CPA profession in Canada at both the provincial and national level. As Senior Vice President of External Relations and Business Development at CPA Canada, she led transformational change initiatives for the accounting profession both in Canada and on the international stage. As Vice-President Education Services at CPA Canada, she played a significant role in the unification of the accountancy profession and led the development of the CPA Certification Program.

Prior to joining CPA Canada, Ms. Batstone served five years as CEO of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Newfoundland and Labrador. In 2020, Ms. Batstone was named in Practice Ignition's top 50 women in accounting globally.

Ms. Batstone has extensive experience in Board Governance and serves on not-for-profit boards including the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts.

Patricia Stock is the CEO of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants. Her previous experience includes being a co-founder and former CEO of MGI RAS, a member firm of MGI Worldwide. A Chartered Accountant (South Africa) and Chartered Director (South Africa), Ms. Stock has held various senior executive and non-executive directorship roles, including working in the public and private sectors, advisory, skills development, and assurance, including auditing United Nations’ organizations during her tenure at the Auditor General of South Africa’s office. She also serves as the Head of Transformation (DEI) at a global firm..

Ms. Stock is a Certified ESG Analyst (CESGA®) with a specialization in governance, audit, and IFRS. She also holds a master’s in international accounting.

Gregory J. Anton, CPA, CGMA joined the IFAC Board in November 2021. He was nominated by the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants.

Mr. Anton is a retired Partner of BDO USA, P.C. He was a founding partner of ACM LLP an accounting firm in the US where he served as Chairman and CEO prior to ACM joining BDO in 2020.

Mr. Anton has an extensive history serving the accounting profession. From 2004-present, he has served as a member of the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) Governing Council and served six years on the AICPA Board including Chairman from 2011-2012. Mr. Anton previously served as chairman of the Colorado Society of CPAS and on the IFAC Nominating Committee.

He is a recipient of the AICPA's Gold Medal Award for Distinguished Service; the highest award granted by the AICPA and is given to CPAs who have made major contributions to the CPA profession. Mr. Anton has nonexecutive board service including, past board member of Citywide Banks, a subsidiary of Heartland Financial USA, Inc. ("Heartland"), a multibillion-dollar financial services company. Prior to Heartland's acquisition of CIC Bancshares, he served on the board and chaired the audit committee of CIC. Mr. Anton also served on the board of WeeSchool, Inc. and served on the Management Committee of Cosyntris Advisory Network, LLC.

Today, the IESBA announced that the eCode – a digital tool to access and navigate the  International Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (including International Independence Standards) (the Code) – will be moving to the recently announced eIS, or e-International Standards, platform.  eIS is a web-based platform that provides electronic access to the authoritative standards developed by the IESBA, the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) and the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB). In addition to the standards, eIS provides access to non-authoritative resource materials, including staff-prepared Basis for Conclusions and Questions and Answers publications.

“Over two years ago, the IESBA and IFAC jointly launched the eCode to provide a web-based resource for the adoption and use of the IESBA Code,” said Dr. Stavros Thomadakis, IESBA Chairman. “Now, with the launch of eIS, the profession has convenient access to an enhanced version of the eCode – or eCode 2.0 – alongside the digitized standards of the IAASB and the IPSASB. The new platform leverages technologies to further refine existing features and user experience of the eCode. The platform sets the stage for new functionalities in the future, including translations. I am confident that users will expand their use of eCode 2.0 and that the reach of the Code of Ethics will become even broader”.

The eIS is intuitive, easily navigable and offers direct access to the 2021 edition of the IESBA Handbook and relevant resources. The eCode has a new look that will further enhance the user experience regardless of the device used to access the Code.  Constituents across the breadth of the stakeholder community were surveyed during the development phase to learn how they currently use the standards and how that use could evolve in a digital environment. The eIS and eCode 2.0 also benefited from the input from representatives of the IESBA and IESBA staff.

“eIS is another significant leap forward as the IESBA continues to leverage modern technologies, including mobile access, to make the content of the Code as widely accessible, visible and user-friendly as possible,” said Ken Siong, the IESBA Program and Senior Director. “Between 2020 and 2021, as the eCode became a valuable resource for firms, national standard setters, regulators and audit oversight bodies, professional accountancy organizations, investors, academia and others, pageviews of the platform jumped nearly 40%. We’re looking forward to seeing that trend continue and accelerate under eIS.”

Users of the current eCode will still be able to access the platform at www.IESBAeCode.org until December 30, 2021. However, as of December 31, 2021, they will be re-directed to the eIS platform.

To learn more about eIS, click here. 

To learn more about the IESBA, visit www.ethicsboard.org.