Fernando Zanet is Director of the Technical Committee at PwC Argentina. His primary responsibility is to analyze and research technical accounting and auditing issues and provide technical support to other members of the firm. Mr. Zanet has extensive experience in auditing public companies under international auditing standards (he works at PwC Argentina for 25 years).
Since 2019, Mr. Zanet has served as a member of the Audit Committee of the Accounting and Assurance Standards Committee, supervised by FACPCE, the country's professional accounting organization. He is also Technical Secretary in FACPCE since 2023 and member of the Commission of Companies that operate in local public offering in the Professional Council of Economic Sciences of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires.
Mr. Zanet was an advisor in the "First Initiative - Roadmap for Strengthening Accounting and Auditing in Honduras-" for the World Bank Group. He is also a professor of Auditing at the Universidad Católica Argentina (UCA) and at the Universidad Argentina de la Empresa (UADE) and he has written articles and books on auditing.
Sami Alshorafa is the Deputy for Supervision, Capital Market Authority Saudi Arabia, where he is based. He leads the supervision of listed entities' financial statements, auditors, and governance as well as compliance of collective investment schemes. He has also worked as an audit partner at two of the big four audit firms.
Mr. Alshorafa: “Being part of the IAASB constitutes an excellent opportunity for accountants and specialists from different backgrounds and different geographical jurisdictions to come together with one main objective in mind, which is serving the public interest of the capital markets by cooperating in the development of high-quality auditing standards.”
Hernán Casinelli is the Chair of the Accounting and Assurance Standards Board of Argentina, where he is based. He has held positions as a member of the International Accounting Standards Board’s SME Implementation Group and the IAASB's ISA for LCEs’ Reference Group.
Mr. Casinelli: “I look forward to working in the public interest to develop standards that enhance confidence in corporate reporting. I am certainly joining the IAASB at an exciting and challenging time.”
Vishal Doshi is a Council member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. He is also the Vice Chair of ICAI’s Auditing and Assurance Standards Board and a partner in K C Mehta & Co LLP, in India, where he is based.
Mr. Doshi: “The IAASB plays a very important role in global standards setting and I am looking forward to contributing towards the IAASB' s objectives to meet stakeholders’ expectations and serve public interest.”
Robert Koethner is the retired Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer, Mercedes-Benz Group AG, a role he held for more than 20 years. During his career, he worked closely with audit firms as well as governance bodies, including supervisory boards and audit committees, on an international scale. He is based in Germany.
Mr. Koethner: “As a former Chief Accounting Officer for a publicly listed and globally operating company I am looking forward to share my experience from a preparers side with my fellow board members to deliver international high-quality auditing standards.”
Chrystelle Richard is Associate Professor in Accounting, ESSEC Business School, and is based in France. Dr. Richard teaches financial accounting and sustainable reporting in bachelor, master, and executive programs. Her primary research interests focus on firms' oversight and new forms of economic governance, including public-private partnerships and financial industry regulation.
Dr. Richard: “I feel very privileged to serve the IAASB at such an exciting time. The challenges of sustainability as well as technological developments present the IAASB with an ambitious and demanding agenda in 2024 and beyond. I am deeply honored to provide my academic expertise to the IAASB, and I am fully committed to serve it with the highest sense of the public interest.”
The IAASB is also pleased to share that two members were re-appointed by the PIOB for terms that also began on January 1, 2024:
Edo Kienhuis is PwC’s Global Standards Leader and a partner in the Audit and Assurance practice in Amsterdam, where he is a member of the National Office Methodology team and serves as an engagement quality review partner on several listed entities; and
Wendy Stevens is the National Practice Leader for Quality & Risk Management (QRM) at Mazars in the US, the Mazars Group International Quality Management leader, and a member of the Mazars Group QRM Board.
The PIOB’s Invitation for Application for IAASB members for terms of service beginning in January 2025 is open until February 9, 2024. The IAASB encourages qualified candidates to apply.
Mr. Vishal Doshi became a member of the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board in January 2024, nominated by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), where he is the Vice Chair of the Auditing & Assurance Standards Board of ICAI.
Mr. Doshi has over 25 years of experience in auditing entities in different industries that includes banking, oil and gas, FMCG, engineering, pharmaceutical, specialty chemicals, ITeS, health care, ports, power, mining, capital markets, NBFC, social and charitable and rural development.
Mr. Doshi is well versed on a diverse number of topics relevant to Auditing Standards, Accounting Standards, Ind AS, Code of Ethics, etc. and have spoken about these at various forums.
He is also a member of the South Asian Federation of Accountants' Committee on Education, Training and CPD.
Today, the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) launched a consultation process on proposed narrow scope amendments to achieve greater convergence with the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants’ (IESBA) International Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (Including Independence Standards). These proposed revisions have two key objectives. First, they would align definitions and requirements in IAASB standards with new definitions for publicly traded and public interest entities in the IESBA Code. Second, the amendments would extend the applicability of existing differential requirements for listed entities to meet heightened stakeholder expectations regarding audits of public interest entities (PIE).
Key proposed revisions include extending the scope of the entities included under the International Standards on Quality Management and the International Standards on Auditing such that they will be subject to:
Engagement quality reviews;
Providing transparency in the auditor’s report on specific aspects of the audit, including auditor independence, communicating key audit matters, and the engagement partner’s name; and
Communicating with those charged with governance to help them fulfill their responsibility overseeing the financial reporting process, (e.g., communicating about quality management and auditor independence).
How to Comment
The IAASB invites all stakeholders to provide feedback on the Exposure Draft using the digital Response Template, which is available on the IAASB website. Feedback is requested by April 8, 2024.
As a Result of the Revisions to the Definitions of Listed Entity and Public Interest Entity in the IESBA Code
These proposed revisions have two key objectives. First, they would align definitions and requirements in IAASB standards with new definitions for publicly traded and public interest entities in the IESBA Code. Second, the amendments would extend the applicability of existing differential requirements for listed entities to meet heightened stakeholder expectations regarding audits of public interest entities (PIE).
Sami Alshorafa became a member of the IAASB in January 2024, nominated by the Saudi Arabia Capital Market Authority (CMA)
Mr. Alshorafa is the Deputy of Supervision at CMA. He leads the supervision of listed entities' financial statements, auditors, and governance as well as compliance of collective investment schemes. He has also worked as an audit partner at two of the big four audit firms.
Mr. Alshorafa also represents the CMA at a number of international committees and organizations including the IOSCO committee on Issuer Accounting, Auditing and Disclosure (C1) and the International Forum of Independent Audit Regulators.
Mr. Alshorafa studied accounting at the University of Dayton (US) and did his MBA at Wright State University (US). He is a non-practicing Saudi CPA.
Robert Koethner became a member of the IAASB in January 2024.
Before his appointment to the IAASB, Mr. Koethner was the global Chief Accounting Officer and Vice President for the Mercedes-Benz Group AG in Germany for more than twenty years. During his career he was in constant exchange and interaction with audit firms as well as with governance bodies, including supervisory boards and audit committees, on an international scale.
From 2015 to 2017, Mr. Koethner served as a member of the IFRS Advisory Council to the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), providing strategic advice on current and future projects and accounting standards from a preparer perspective. Mr. Koethner was also a member of the Administrative Board of the Accounting Standards Committee Germany from 2011 to 2023.
Mr. Koethner graduated with a Master of Arts (Economics) from Wayne State University (US) and a Master of Business Administration (Accounting, Financial Reporting, Audit) from the University of Saarland (Germany).
Hernán Casinelli became a member of the IAASB in January 2024, embarking on a three-year term after an individual nomination.
In Argentina, Mr. Casinelli serves as the Chair and General Director of the Accounting and Assurance Standards Committee, overseen by FACPCE, the nation's professional accountancy organization. He further holds a position as a board member of the Group of Latin American Accounting Standard-setters (GLASS), and contributes as a member of the governance group of IFR4NPO, dedicated to formulating globally applicable financial reporting guidelines for non-profit organizations.
Mr. Casinelli’s extensive experience encompasses previous contributions as a member of the IAASB's Reference Group for the ISA for LCEs project from 2020 to 2023 and as a member of the IASB's SME Implementation Group from 2010 to 2016.
Professionally, Mr. Casinelli specializes as a consultant in accounting and finance matters. His professional endeavors harmonize seamlessly with a substantial commitment to academia. Since 2013, he has served as the academic director of the IFRS Certificate Program at Universidad Austral, an institution recognized as Argentina's top non-governmental university and one of the foremost in Latin America, partnering with ICAEW in educational initiatives.
Mr. Casinelli holds an MSc in Finance from Universidad Austral, earning a BSc in Accounting from the University of Buenos Aires.
