Categories

Background

Find out the why? how? obstacles? benefits? etc to stakeholders

(Companies, PMEs; consumers; financial markets; data users; financial investments, instruments and contracts, governments, regulators and….  you!)

Our speakers will address the implications of the current status for companies in Europe & Luxembourg) with respect to their business competitiveness, changing consumer behaviour and attitudes to the trends in environmentally related initiatives and social responsibility.  

Whereas the overall need and benefits of CSR are essential and laudable, given the current 2025 unpredictable economic, social and political environment:   are we still on the right track?  are the goals, requirements still realistic? are they anti-competitive? and are efforts enough and sustainable?

 Our expert speakers will bring us up to date and will provide their insights thereon.

Agenda

 I      Introduction        (the original objectives of CSR; the recent EU announcement; etc)

II     Brief overview of 2025 status (preparedness by sector; issues; timing…)

III    Current challenges & opportunities:

• Operational issues (relevant data, quantification, accessibility etc)
• Data (gather; reliability; relevance; costs etc)
• Reporting (status; preparedness; etc)

IV     Market reactions:

• Industry sectors (differences; needs; relevance; economics)
• Social (public; consumers, NGOs; environnemental etc.)
• Other effects (on regulatory; valuations; funding; investments; funds;
• Competitors (status? – other world economies and sectors)

 V       Q&A and Discussion 

  Our expert speakers

 For this key event and discussion, we got together 2 leading experts to share their views:

 Mike Van Kauvenbergh – Director and Head of Consulting ESG at Deveco (Atoz)  

A professional since 1994, Mike spent his early years abroad, particularly in Switzerland and Germany, with positions of responsibility in various sectors before heading back to Luxembourg in 2006. In addition to his expertise in sales, marketing, and business strategy, he has developed his ESG expertise over the past 15 years. Mike founded Deveco in 2017 and integrated the company with ATOZ Group in March 2024.

Mike is an accredited expert with the INDR (Institut National pour un Développement durable et la Responsabilité sociale des entreprises) and an auditor for the national ESG label “Entreprise Socialement Responsible”.

He holds an executive master’s in economics from Universität des Saarlandes, Germany.  Mike is also a trained carbon footprint expert and holds the Bilan Carbone© license from the Association for the Low Carbon Transition, France.

Claire Cherpion – Director, Sustainability & Risk Assurance, PwC Luxembourg 

Claire is Director in the PwC Broader Assurance Services, supporting clients to build and to demonstrate the robustness of their sustainability reporting. Extensive consulting and auditing experience in Quality, Health and Social Responsibility.

Specialised in Sustainability and Sustainable Finance, she performs readiness assessment and assurance reviews under ISAE 3000 assessing the compliance with GRI/SASB standards and the completeness and accuracy of the non-financial data contained in the Sustainability reporting. Involved in the PwC TCFD (Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures), CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) & EFRAG and Taxonomy working groups.

Author of various sustainability newsletters and provided training on GRI standard and Sustainability disclosures reporting requirements.

For years Claire has been supporting clients as process and controls expert, in finance and non-financial transformation projects. Claire has also been at the forefront of PwC’s compliance and regulatory practices with her strong liaison with industry and regulatory experts. Advising clients in laying roadmap to comply with the upcoming EU regulation, incl. CSRD, CSDDD, EU Taxonomy amongst other. Extensive experience in working on sustainability reporting verification e.g. GRI/SASB and CO2 reporting, and project management for implementing the environmental data collection processes(flowcharts), Risk & Controls Matrix, Data quality requirements related to Sustainability disclosures.

She has a master’s in finance (ICN Business School), and a Bachelor of Commerce (Sup’Est); Cambridge – Business and Climate Change: Towards Net Zero Emissions.

She is GRI certified; SASB Level I; CISA certified. Assurance on ESG report and E, S and G Sustainability KPIs

Seminar details

Date & time:  Tuesday, May 6, 2025 (18.15 – 20.30)

Event:

18.15   Registration and welcome

18.30   Presentations and Q&A

19.45   Networking – drinks & snacks

Venue:  PwC offices (2, Rue Gerhard Mercator, L-2182, Gasperich, Luxembourg)
https://www.pwc.lu/en/location.html

Parking:  at nearby Auchan Cloche D’Or (25 Bd Friedrich W. Raiffeisen, L-2411, Gasperich)
https://maps.app.goo.gl/wQ1WKm5g8B9e6y7E9

 Fee:   Members:                     EUR: 15 per person
            Non-members:            EUR: 20 per person

 Note:  This is a CPD qualifying event – certificates available on written request.

Registration: Please register below and pay the fee in advance to ABIAL. (IBAN: LU56 0024 1398 5698 8300)

For any questions or help, please contact:

Azeem Edun (Chair)                – email:  azeem.edun@kpmg.lu  or tel: 621 876 431

Mervyn Martins (Secretary)    – email: mervynmartins01@gmail.com  or  tel: 621 332 053

To provide an opportunity for our members to meet after the summer break and to welcome newcomers to Luxembourg we organised a cocktail.

An informal evening event with cocktails was organised for members of the Chartered Accountants Ireland. This was an opportunity for you to meet with Brendan and discuss matters relating to your Institute.

Speaker: Brendan Lenihan, President of the Chartered Accountants Ireland on “The future role of the professional accountant in measuring and communicating economic reality and taking decisions to improve businesses”

CV: Brendan is a Chartered Accountant who has experience working as a Finance Director in industry, as a Partner in a global practice and also running his own small advisory practice. He is Group Finance Director at O’Flynn Group, a privately owned real estate company with assets in Ireland, UK, Spain and Germany. Within O’Flynn he has responsibility for financial, human resource and administrative matters including capital structure and banking relationships. Prior to joining the Group, he was a Partner with Arthur Andersen Business Consulting, with whom he qualified as Chartered Accountant and worked for 12 years in Ireland and the US. He was also principal of his own strategic planning and management consultancy firm for 5 years. Within the Irish Institute he has been both the Chair of the Members in Business Committee and also the Governance & Byelaws committee. He is President of Chartered Accountants Ireland and also Chairman of CCABI which is the body that represents all of the main professional accountancy bodies in Ireland. Brendan is aged 45, is married and has three young sons.

Presentation: Link to the video he showed

Press Coverage: Link to “The Irish Times” article

To provide an opportunity for our members and students to meet in a more casual atmosphere after the summer break we invited our members, students and guests to our Welcome Back Cocktail.

Dennis Robertson, Independent Director and formerly Audit Partner at KPMG, gave a short presentation on “25 years in Luxembourg -a mountain of change and a wealth of experience”.

Please also invite any newcomers to Luxembourg who you think would be interested in attending and networking with other members.

FEE:             EUR 10 per person (members, students and guest)

DETAILED INVITATION

We are delighted to announce to you that Ronan Nolan, President of CAI has accepted an invitation from ABIAL and will be visiting us beginning of December.

We are delighted to have Ronan Nolan, President of the Chartered Accountants of Ireland who will speak to us on “Current issues for the profession”.

To provide an opportunity for our members and students to meet in a more casual atmosphere in the New Year we are delighted to invite you to our New Year’s Cocktail at The British Ambassador’s Residence on Thursday January 15, 2015 from 6:30pm to 8:30pm. Please also invite any newcomers to Luxembourg who you think would be interested in attending and networking with other members.

Detailed invitation

RSVP

We are delighted to have Jann Brown, President of the Chartered Accountants of Scotland who will speak to us on “The power of Group Action”.

Fee:
EUR 30 for qualified members of the UK or Irish Institutes
EUR 40 for guests (non-members)
EUR 10 for the first 5 students of the UK or Irish Institutes on a first come and first served basis

Registration

Detailed invitation

We are delighted to have James Barbour, Director of Technical Policy at ICAS who will speak to us on “UK Accounting and Audit Update – Adoption of FRS 102”.

Registration

Detailed invitation

This participative workshop will provide accountants with a need-to-know overview of common forms of fraud and financial crime. It will highlight the key warning signs and fraud hotspots within organisations and the practical steps that can be taken to reduce the risk.

The cost of the seminar (including refreshments and finger food) is:

EUR 20 for Members
EUR 40 for Guests (non-members) and
EUR 10 for the first 5 students of the UK or Irish Institutes on a first come and first served basis.

Invitation incl. detailed programme

Registration

Our Professional Practice Update took place on Tuesday, June 2, 2015 from 8:15 am to 1:30 pm at the Chamber of Commerce (7, rue Alcide de Gasperi).

ABIAL (formerly CCAB) created an extensive program which included Ian Ball, Chairman CIPFA International and IIRC Board member as well as Petr Kriz from the Fédération des Experts-comptables Européens. The event was completed by a very interesting panel discussion on the audit reform.

Invitation incl. detailed programme

Please find the hereafter, for your convenience, the slides that were presented as well as the ICAEW video and the audit report that were discussed in the introduction.

Ian Ball: Corporate and public entity reporting

Petr Kriz: Challenges ahead

ICAEW video: Tomorrow’s practice

Independent Auditor’s report of Bodycote plc

We would like to invite you to attend the ABIAL Annual General Meeting.

The event will include short presentations made by the ABIAL Chairperson, Treasurer, Honorary Auditor and Secretary. The floor will then be opened to the members to raise any questions pertaining to the organization and running of the ABIAL.

The cost for the event is EUR 40 including the aperitif as well as soft-drinks and wine during the dinner.

Registration

Detailed invitation

We are delighted to have James Barbour, Director of Technical Policy at ICAS who will speak to us on “UK Accounting and Audit Update – Adoption of FRS 102”.

Fee: EUR 30 for qualified members of the UK or Irish Institutes; EUR 40 for non-members; EUR 10 for first 5 students of the UK or Irish Institutes (first come first served basis)

Registration

Detailed invitation