New North American lead to put Integrated Reporting at the heart of business agenda across the continent

The International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) today announces the appointment of Bob Laux as its North American Lead. Prior to joining the IIRC, Laux led the Treasury Controller Group at Microsoft, responsible for the accounting and disclosure of Microsoft’s USD 100 billion treasury portfolio.

Many of America’s leading brands have adopted Integrated Reporting over recent years including General Electric, JLL, Pepsi Co, Prudential Financial and The World Bank. They are using Integrated Reporting to communicate a clear, concise, integrated story that explains how all of their resources are creating value. Integrated Reporting is helping businesses to think holistically about their strategy and plans, make informed decisions and manage key risks to build investor and stakeholder confidence and improve future performance.

Laux has joined the IIRC to ensure Integrated Reporting is at the heart of the business agenda in North America as concepts such as long-termism and broader value creation become more prevalent. This announcement follows some major shifts towards Integrated Reporting during 2016, when the largest US public pension fund the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) called on boards to “provide an integrated report that puts historical performance into context, and portrays the risks, opportunities and prospects for the company in the future.”

Commenting on the appointment, Richard Howitt, CEO, IIRC said, “I am delighted that Bob has joined the IIRC team to lead our engagement in the US. Not only does he bring with him a vast wealth of experience in the field, he also brings with him a passionate belief that Integrated Reporting can play a much needed role in bringing about financial stability and sustainable development in our markets.

“Bob has been key to the development of Integrated Reporting over the past five years having been a member of the IIRC Technical Taskforce that helped develop the International <IR> Framework and subsequently being a crucial voice on the IIRC Council representing Microsoft.”

Prior to joining Microsoft in 2000, Bob was an Industry Fellow at the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and before that he spent eight years at General Motors. Commenting on his appointment Bob Laux said, “I am thrilled to join the IIRC team and look forward to promoting communication about value creation as the next step in the evolution of corporate reporting. Ever since I was part of the Business Reporting Research Project team during my Industry Fellowship at the FASB, I have been a strong proponent of improving corporate reporting. I hope to play a significant role in the IIRC’s Breakthrough Phase, moving from the creation of the International <IR> Framework and market testing to development and early adoption by reporting organisations in the US.”

Business leaders in the US are grappling with issues such as short-termism and disclosure overload and are looking for tools to enable them to make shifts away from these behaviours, which are causing real instability in the market. Laux will be working throughout North America to ensure that businesses understand what Integrated Reporting is and how they can use it and its cyclical power and relationship with integrated thinking to tackle some of the major issues facing them today. He will be meeting regularly with key figures in this field and working with partners to build recognition of Integrated Reporting, establishing a team of like-minded individuals via a working group to promote a new multi-capital approach to doing business. A particular focus of Laux’s will be the role the technology sector can play in supporting this. US companies are driving the work of the <IR> Technology Initiative which is looking at how technology can underpin new trends in corporate reporting.