The conference will feature invited presentations and a roundtable delivered by established experts in the field.

Keynote speakers:

Professor Peter Easton is the Notre Dame Alumni Professor of Accountancy and the Director of the Center for Accounting Research and Education (CARE) at the Mendoza College of Business.  He is the Editor in Chief of Accountability in a Sustainable World Quarterly. He holds a PhD in accounting and finance from UC Berkeley. His expertise lies in accounting, sustainability, corporate valuation and financial statement analysis. Professor Easton has published in leading journals, including The Accounting Review, Review of Accounting Studies, Journal of Accounting Research, etc. Professor Peter Easton has received many honours including the Limperg Medal for his contribution to accounting research in The Netherlands and the AAA Financial Accounting Reporting Section Best Paper Award and he is a member of the Australian Accounting Hall of Fame.

Kristian Koktvedgaard is an experienced professional in corporate reporting, accounting policy, and sustainability disclosure. He works with regulatory and reporting developments affecting European businesses through his role at Confederation of Danish Industries, where he focuses on financial reporting, auditing, and governance matters. Kristian has been actively involved in international standard-setting and professional cooperation, contributing to initiatives that support transparent, consistent, and high-quality corporate reporting. His work spans both financial and non-financial reporting, including developments in digital reporting and sustainability frameworks. Within EFRAG, he contributes his expertise to advancing European sustainability reporting and strengthening the quality and comparability of corporate disclosures.

The roundtable discussion will be facilitated by Professor Agnes Cheng, The University of Oklahoma (USA). Professor Cheng is the Dale Looper Chair in Accounting in the Price College of Business. She was the Chair Professor and Head at the School of Accounting and Finance, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University before joining the University of Oklahoma. She has served on numerous editorial boards including The Accounting Review and the Contemporary Accounting Research. She is currently serving as Editor for Journal of Business Finance and Accounting, Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance (conference), Journal of International Accounting Research, Associate Editor for Journal of Financial Stability; and as Senior Track Editor for China Accounting and Finance Review. Prof. Cheng has also provided key services for several accounting organizations including President for CAPANA and Vice President – International for American Accounting Association.

Participants of the roundtable discussion:

Professor Stephen Penman, Columbia Business School (USA). Professor Penman is a Professor in the Graduate School of Business, Columbia University where he is also co-director of the Center for Excellence in Accounting and Security Analysis and director of the Masters Program in Accounting and Fundamental Analysis. He is a founding editor of the Review of Accounting Studies and served as managing editor from 2002-2006. He is on the advisory boards of Phoenician Capital and Boston Harbor Investment Management and has served as an advisor to fundamental asset managers in the U.S., Europe, and China. He also serves on the Board of Directors of UBS Financial Services Inc. Hedge Fund Solutions and is chair of its audit committee. In 2019 he was elected to the Accounting Hall of Fame and in 2020 to the Australian Accounting Hall of Fame.