FRA, IFC sign agreements to strengthen sustainability, corporate governance

Egypt’s Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) signed on Wednesday two cooperation agreements with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, to develop sustainability assessment tools and strengthen corporate governance across the non-banking financial sector.

Under the first agreement, the IFC will provide advisory and technical support to the FRA to develop its environmental, social, and governance (ESG) framework, including designing an ESG Scorecard to assess companies’ sustainability performance and establishing the relevant technical indicators and standards.

The cooperation also includes reviewing the FRA’s new sustainability reporting framework, preparing proposed roles and responsibilities for sustainability officers within institutions in line with international best practices, and organising workshops to train FRA employees on IFRS S1 sustainability disclosure and IFRS S2 climate-related disclosure standards.

The second agreement, signed between the IFC and the Egyptian Institute of Directors (EIoD), affiliated with the FRA, allows the institute to use and develop specialised IFC educational materials as part of its accredited training programmes for three years.

The materials cover four areas: sustainability training for board members, a board members certification programme, a board secretary handbook, and an internal control environment guide.

The programmes aim to develop corporate governance practices, improve governance frameworks, clarify the responsibilities of board secretaries, and strengthen knowledge of internal control systems, risk management, internal auditing, and compliance.

The agreements form part of the FRA’s efforts to develop regulatory frameworks and institutional practices and promote the application of sustainability and governance principles across non-banking financial institutions.