BDO Consulting MD Nishan at the helm of regional standard setting

AOSSG Vice Chair Nishan Fernando, AOSSG Chairman Dr. S.B Zavare, IASB Vice-Chair Sue Lloyd and IASB Board Member Ann Tarca

BDO Consulting Managing Director Nishan Fernando was appointed as the Vice Chair of Asian Oceanian Standards Setters Group (AOSSG) at the eleventh annual meeting held recently in Goa India. The appointment is for the term 2020-21 and he will progress to be the Chair for 2022-2023. 

Dr. S.B. Zaware of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India was appointed as the Chair of

BDO Consulting Managing Director and AOSSG Vice Chair Nishan Fernando

AOSSG for 2020-21. This combination comes forward at a time when the Indian Premier pledged support towards the development of Sri Lanka. 

The 21st century is known as the knowledge-centric century. In order to remain competitive globally, it is imperative that a country moves ahead with the world leaders. But strategic investment in actual development projects as well as the governance background in every sphere is also pivotal. In order to enhance the quality of life the launch of a massive social transformation is essential. With the dawn of a new vision for our country with the recent political changes, governance has been identified as a key ingredient in reaching prosperity in the country. 

As such, a country’s progress is dependent upon its peoples’ knowledge, skills and capabilities. These attributes change overtime and Sri Lanka too needs to develop its peoples’ knowledge, skills and competencies to compete at a global level. This challenge will ultimately need to be spear-headed by key professionals in the various professional bodies in the country. 

The Asian-Oceanian Standard-Setters Group (AOSSG) is a grouping of the accounting standard-setters in the Asian-Oceanian region. The group has been formed to address issues and share experiences on the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and to contribute to the development of a high-quality set of global accounting standards. With a current membership of 27 jurisdictions in the region AOSSG works closely with International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) to promote the adoption of, and convergence with, IFRSs by jurisdictions in the region 

Financial reporting within a consistent framework of high quality Standards is imperative to facilitate cross-border trade, investments and governance. AOSSG strives to achieve this objective by enhancing quality of financial reporting through a single set of high quality, global financial reporting standards which is IFRS. AOSSG promotes the adoption of and convergence with International Financial Reporting Standards and also promotes their consistent application by the jurisdictions in the region. It helps resolving common financial reporting issues to enhance transparency of financial markets in the region. 

In this endeavor AOSSG co-ordinates with the Standard Setters in the region to provide input to the standard setting and technical activities of IASB. It is involved with governments and regulators and other regional and international organisations to improve the quality of financial reporting in the region.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (ICASL)) is the accounting standards setter in Sri Lanka and represents Sri Lanka in AOSSG.  ICASL as a matter of policy adopts IFRS, like many other countries, as their national standards. ICASL is a member of AOSSG’s Executive Committee which consist of eight other countries, namely, Australia, China, Hong-Kong, India, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore. Nishan Fernando has been representing ICASL in AOSSG since 2011 where he has been active in various working groups. 

Nishan Fernando is the Managing Director of BDO Consulting, Sri Lanka and Maldives. He is a Past President (2008-09) of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka. He has functioned as a Commission Member of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka, as a member of the Sri Lanka Accounting and Auditing Standards Monitoring Board, and as the Chairman of the Accounting Standards Committee where he continues as a member. 

Sri Lanka converged with IFRSs in 2012 under his Chairmanship of the Accounting Standards Committee. He is also the Chairman of the International Financial Reporting, Implementation and Interpretation Committee of Sri Lanka. The Committee addresses the special requirements and Industry specific issues, and provides guidelines on those identified areas.

He has served in other international positions in the past as well. He chaired the Center of Excellence for Standards and Quality and the Accounting Standards Committee of the South Asian Federation of Accountants. He served as a member of the International Accounting Education Standards Board of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and its Consultative Advisory Group for nearly ten years. He has conducted many IFRS training programs nationally and internationally. 

Fernando states that this appointment is a result of the commitment and efforts over the years on Accounting Standards setting and implementation, and on IFRS education which has brought honour to the country.