The Public Oversight Accounting and Auditing Standards Authority has published the Procedures and Principles Regarding Corporate Sustainability Reporting Expertise under the Sustainability Audit Regulation.
The regulation sets out the conditions for the training, licensing, registration and activities of persons who will serve as ‘Corporate Sustainability Reporting Experts’ in the process from the preparation to the presentation of corporate sustainability reports, as well as the principles for the suspension and revocation of their licences.
According to the regulation, experts who will work with businesses' finance, accounting, risk, environment and other relevant departments must have at least a Bachelors level education, pass the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Expertise examination and have at least eight months of work experience in sustainability reporting.
Furthermore, individuals holding the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Expertise licence will be required to participate in licence renewal training every three years.
Those who do not participate in this training or who fail the exam at the end of the training will have their licences suspended and will be required to participate in and pass a renewal training course within a maximum of two years in order for their licences to be reactivated.
If individuals are found to have acted contrary to the Procedures and Principles or to have used their licences for purposes other than those intended, their licences will also be suspended.
These individuals will also be required to participate in and successfully complete a renewal training course within two years to reactivate their licences. Otherwise, their licences will be revoked.
The ‘Corporate Sustainability Reporting Specialist’ licence is now mandatory for professionals who will be involved in TSRS-compliant reporting processes.
The new regulation aims to increase companies' reporting capacity and establish a common competency standard in the market.
Who is this ‘reporting specialist’?
A corporate sustainability reporting specialist is someone who collects data from different departments within a company, coordinates the writing of reports in accordance with the TSRS framework, and plays a critical role in the final report's production. They may be employed full-time or provide services externally. However, in either case, they must hold a KGK licence.
What are the licence requirements?
- Hold at least a bachelor's degree
- Achieve a minimum of 60 points in a two-module examination (sustainability reporting + financial reporting/corporate governance)
- Have at least 8 months of experience in sustainability reporting (exemptions apply for certain academic qualifications and auditing experience)
- Meet the criminal record requirement
- Exam results will be valid for three years; the names of licence holders will be published in the KGK's public register
What topics are covered in the exam?
- TSRS and related reporting standards
- ESG, emissions management, Green Deal
- Measurement and reporting techniques, case studies
- Financial reporting and sustainable finance
Renewal and Quality Assurance
The licence must be renewed every three years. To this end, a minimum of 10 hours of training and an examination are required.
If renewal is not completed, the licence is first suspended and then revoked if not completed within two years.
What does this mean for companies?
Companies will now need to work with licensed experts when preparing sustainability reports.
This regulation brings to the fore the need for training/certification for internal teams and sets the bar for ‘minimum competence’ in the consultancy market.
The scope of the expertise exam also provides a reference set for internal training plans.
For the first time in Türkiye, sustainability reporting professionalism has gained such a concrete legal framework. In the coming period, not only ‘how’ reports are written, but also ‘who’ writes them will be critical in terms of quality assurance.
You can click on the link below for the Decision and Legislation.