International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation (IFRS Foundation)

The International Sustainability Standards Board receives “international support” to develop sustainability disclosure standards that are supported by the G20, the G7, the International Organization of Securities Commissions, the Financial Stability Board, and central bank governors from “more than 40 jurisdictions.” ⁴

The IFRS Foundation is governed by 22 trustees, who are appointed from various countries and professional backgrounds for a three-year term that can be renewed. As of October 2025, Erkki Liikanen is the chair of the IFRS Foundation trustees, a position he has held since October 2018. Liikanen served two seven-year terms as governor of the Bank of Finland, two terms as a European Commissioner, as a governor of the International Monetary Fund, and as a member of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank. He was also the chair of a group set up by the European Commission to consider banking policy changes in the European Union. ⁵

Background

The International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation is a nonprofit incorporated in the State of Delaware and is registered as an overseas company in England and Wales with its headquarters based in London, England. ⁶

The IFRS Foundation sets corporate financial reporting standards for capital markets around the world via its two independent standard-setting boards, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), founded in 2001 as the successor of the International Accounting Standards Committee, which focused on accounting standards; and the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), of which the IFRS Foundation announced the formation at COP26 in 2021, which focuses on environment-related disclosure standards. ^{1 2 3 7}

The IFRS Foundation is governed by 22 trustees, who are appointed from various countries and professional backgrounds for three-year terms that can be renewed. Trustees are responsible for governance and organizational strategy, maintaining the IFRS Foundation’s constitution, overseeing due process, securing funding, and appointing members to the IASB, ISSB, and various advisory bodies. ⁸

Trustees are accountable to the IFRS Monitoring Board, a “body of publicly accountable market authorities.” ⁸

History

The International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation accounting standards were adopted by 7,000 companies in 25 countries across Europe in 2005. Other countries and regions that switched from national accounting standards to IFRS standards that year included Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, and South Africa. In 2007, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) permitted non-U.S. companies to report in the United States using the IFRS Foundation Accounting Standards. G20 leaders in 2009 supported the work of the International Accounting Standards Board and called for a move towards creating international accounting standards. ⁷

Brazil committed to adopting the IFRS Accounting Standards in 2010, while Canada began using the standards in 2011. Argentina, Mexico, and Russia adopted the accounting standards in 2012, while Japan allowed “virtually all listed companies” to use the IFRS standards in 2013. China reaffirmed its commitment to the IFRS standards in 2015. ⁷

International Sustainability Standards Board

The International Sustainability Standards Board was announced by the IFRS Foundation’s trustees on November 3, 2021 at the United Nations’ COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland. ³

The ISSB receives “international support” to develop environmental disclosure standards that are supported by the G20, the G7, the International Organization of Securities Commissions, the Financial Stability Board, and the central bank governors from “more than 40 jurisdictions.” ³

The ISSB “builds on the work of market-led investor-focused reporting initiatives.” These initiatives include the Climate Disclosure Standards Board, the Task Force for Climate-related Financial Disclosures, and the World Economic Forum’s Stakeholder Capitalism Metrics. ³

People

Erkki Liikanen is the chair of the International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation trustees, a position he has held since October 2018. He has been reappointed twice, with his third term scheduled to conclude on 30 September 2027. ⁵

Prior to his role at the IFRS Foundation, Liikanen served two seven-year terms as governor of the Bank of Finland, and served two terms as a commissioner in the European Commission, the main executive arm of the European Union (EU) that conducts the majority of the management of the EU’s budget and is the only institution within the EU that can bring forward proposals for new laws. ^{5 9 10}

Liikanen was a governor of the International Monetary Fund and a member of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank from 2004 until 2018. He was also the chair of a group set up by the European Commission to consider banking policy changes in the EU. He was also a member of the Parliament of Finland for the Social Democratic Party of Finland, serving as Finland’s Minister of Finance from 1987 until 1990 and as the ambassador of Finland to the EU from 1990 until 1994. ⁵

Financials

The International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation receives most of its revenue from contributions. The foundation’s revenue in 2022 was just under $70 million, just under $13 million of which came from government grants. Its total expenses amounted to just under $60 million, and its net assets were just under $58.5 million that year. ¹¹

The IFRS Foundation had just under $76.5 million in revenue in 2023, over $6 million of which came from government grants. Its total expenses amounted to just over $77 million, while its net assets amounted to just over $61.5 million in 2023. The organization’s net deficit came to $724,357 that year. ¹²