IFRS Foundation Trustees appoint Jeffrey Hales and Michael Jantzi to the ISSB, making the board quorate

The IFRS Foundation Trustees have appointed Jeffrey Hales―SASB Standards Board Chair and Accounting Professor at University of Texas―and Michael Jantzi―VRF Board Director and Sustainalytics founder and former CEO―as members of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), effective July 2022. Their appointments make the ISSB quorate.

Dr Hales has served as Chair of the SASB Standards Board since 2018. He is also a professor of accounting at the University of Texas in Austin, US. His widely published research has focused on reporting standards, regulation and behavioral finance. He has previously served as an academic research fellow at the Financial Accounting Standards Board in the US and as a member of its Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council. Dr Hales has also been a member of the Climate Disclosure Standard Board, now consolidated into the IFRS Foundation. He has a PhD in management from Cornell University in New York.

Mr Jantzi has 30 years experience in responsible investment and sustainable finance. He joins the ISSB from Morningstar, where he currently serves as Managing Director of ESG Strategy. He is the founder and former CEO of Sustainalytics, an ESG research and ratings firm that grew to global market prominence under Michael’s leadership and was subsequently acquired by Morningstar in 2020. In 1992, he founded Jantzi Research and led a multiple-company merger that formed Sustainalytics in 2009. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the VRF and of the Principles for Responsible Investment. He is also a committee member of the Independent Review Committee on Standard Setting in Canada and is a board director of the MakeWay Foundation. Mr Jantzi holds a Master of international relations from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada.

Dr Hales’ role will be part time―he will continue to teach at the University of Texas. Mr Jantzi’s role is full time. Their base will be the IFRS Foundation’s ISSB office in Montreal.

The appointments of Dr Hales and Mr Jantzi bring the ISSB’s membership to eight, which allows the ISSB to operate. In the next several weeks, the Trustees will complete the ISSB’s full membership with appropriate balance and diversity of expertise and geographies around the world. They currently plan to announce further appointments in July, with a goal to reach the full complement of 14 members during the third quarter of 2022.

Their appointments, together with the recently announced appointment of Verity Chegar, Vice-Chair of the SASB Standard Board, will bring invaluable sustainability and industry-based standard-setting knowledge from the Value Reporting Foundation to the ISSB, and add unique expertise to its work.

The ISSB’s first public meeting will take place in Frankfurt the week commencing 18 July 2022. Stakeholders can observe the Board’s discussions live on the IFRS Foundation’s website.

 
Erkki Liikanen, Chair of the IFRS Foundation Trustees, said:

Guided by an international search firm, the Trustees have followed a thorough and extensive appointment process―reflecting the importance of this work. I welcome Jeff and Michael to the ISSB.

Emmanuel Faber, ISSB Chair, said:

With today’s announcement, the ISSB has reached a quorum. Jeff and Michael bring significant sustainability, investment and standard-setting expertise to the ISSB. I’m thrilled to have them on board.

Jeffrey Hales said:

As a strong advocate of private-sector standard-setting, I fully support the IFRS Foundation’s mission, the formation of the ISSB, and its commitment to build upon SASB Standards. I am honoured to be an inaugural ISSB member and look forward to working with my fellow board members and stakeholders to help meet investors’ pressing needs for rigorous, relevant and comparable sustainability-related financial information.

Michael Jantzi said:

The ISSB announcement was a historic milestone towards much-needed alignment of sustainability disclosures around the world. I am excited to join the ISSB and look forward to working with the other board members to deliver sustainability disclosures that meet the information needs of the capital markets.