SEC, CSE and CA Sri Lanka to capitalise on synergies to advance non-financial reporting

Monday, 5 September 2022 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

From left: CASL CEO Dulani Fernando, SEC Commission Member Manil Jayesinghe, CASL President Sanjaya Bandara, SEC Chairman Viraj Dayaratne PC, CSE Chairman Dilshan Wirasekara, SEC DG Chinthaka Mendis and CSE CEO Rajeeva Bandaranaike

SEC, CSE and CA Sri Lanka officials at the signing ceremony

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC), the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka) recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to encourage and advance non-financial reporting in Sri Lanka.

Through the MoU, the three institutions aim to capitalise on mutual interests and synergies to jointly deliver awareness on Integrated Reporting, Corporate Governance, Sustainability and other ESG focus areas. Furthermore, the MoU also paves the way for broader cooperation on ESG, including dialogue and consultations on driving progressive ESG policies and frameworks and the introduction of ESG focused new products in the capital market and joint stakeholder engagement on advancing ESG.

SEC Chairman Viraj Dayaratne PC said: “The MoU with CA Sri Lanka brings together three like-minded institutions, with the common goal of establishing more elaborate and transparent reporting of non-financial information in Sri Lanka. The MoU lays a long-term foundation for the SEC and CSE to work with CA Sri Lanka to introduce policies to ensure that Sri Lankan corporates report more progressively and in-line with international standards, especially in relation to the meaningful disclosure of non-financial information.”

CSE Chairman Dilshan Wirasekara said: “Through this MoU, the CSE aims to work with the SEC and CA Sri Lanka to encourage more Sri Lankan corporates to use non-financial reporting as a means to deliver trust and confidence to the market on long term value creation. Our joint efforts also will focus on aligning the interests of institutions that report on non-financial performance with those who use such information such as investors, analysts and others, which will result in further enhancing the quality of non-financial information and encourage informed decision making.”

CA Sri Lanka President Sanjaya Bandara said: “Along with financial information, non-financial information is essential for presenting a more comprehensive picture of corporate performance, and CA Sri Lanka is dedicated to promoting both financial and non-financial reporting in our position as the national body of accountants and as the sole standard-setter. Therefore, we are happy to partner with SEC and CSE in this landmark endeavour in our joint efforts to encourage and advance non-financial reporting in Sri Lanka.”