Financial Services Commission Releases Translated Version of SASB Standards in Preparation for International Standardization of ESG Disclosures

[Asia Economy Reporter Ji-hwan Park] The Financial Services Commission announced on the 10th that it will translate and release the SASB standards in preparation for the international standardization of sustainability disclosure standards.

SASB is a standard established by the U.S. Sustainability Accounting Standards Board. Currently, many U.S. companies voluntarily disclose sustainability information by referring to the SASB standards.

The release of the translated SASB standards comes as the number of domestic and international companies using the SASB standards for sustainability reporting is gradually increasing. The Financial Services Commission believes this reflects growing market interest in the SASB standards.

According to the Korea Standards Association, the number of companies in Korea using the SASB standards among those disclosing sustainability reports increased from 16 last year to 34 this year. U.S. companies also show a clear upward trend, rising from 349 last year to 506 this year.

Currently, internationally, the IFRS Foundation announced the establishment of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) at the COP26 meeting held on the 3rd, accelerating the movement toward international standardization of disclosure standards. With the IFRS Foundation establishing the ISSB, it is expected that the international standardization of sustainability disclosure will be fully underway, and efforts for sustainability disclosure will expand worldwide. In particular, the foundation of the sustainability disclosure standards to be developed by the ISSB is expected to be the SASB standards, especially the industry-specific standards reflecting industrial characteristics.

The Financial Services Commission plans to first release Korean translations of the conceptual framework, application guidelines, and 10 industry-specific standards of the SASB standards, considering the industrial characteristics of domestic companies conducting sustainability reporting. Specifically, these industries include △ Household and Personal Products △ Industrial Machinery △ Commercial Banks △ Electric Power Generation △ Residential Construction △ Steel Manufacturing △ Electrical and Electronic Equipment △ Investment Banking and Brokerage △ Hardware △ Chemicals.

A Financial Services Commission official stated, "We will increase companies' understanding of the SASB standards to alleviate the burden of preparing sustainability reports," and added, "By enhancing the utilization of the SASB standards, we aim to contribute to more consistent domestic sustainability disclosures and provide more useful information to investors."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.