ISO standards for corporate information disclosure

International Organisation for Standardisation develops standards after recent failures in corporate governance

Two new ISO standards have been developed to help organisations to disclose corporate information quickly.

The International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) says the standards have been developed in the wake of recent failures in corporate governance, where increased pressure by industry regulators obliges companies to provide such information because irregularities in financial management, ethical dealings, disclosure and transparency of decisions have become common.

ISO says in an announcement that the new standards have been developed to be compatible and complementary to other management systems standards developed by ISO, such as ISO 9001 (quality management), ISO 14001 (environmental management), and ISO/IEC 27001 (information security management).

ISO 30300 is the umbrella standard, which includes the fundamentals and vocabulary common to the whole series, while ISO 30301 specifies requirements for a management system for records. Further standards in the 30300 series are being developed.
“The ISO 30300 series offers the methodology for a systematic approach to the creation and management of records, aligned with organisational objectives and strategies,” ISO says.

“Managing records using management systems standards supports cost-effective operational processes such as storage, information retrieval, information re-use, litigation and due diligence.

“The cost ... is determined by business needs and an assessment of risk, and can provide both short and long-term returns on investment, as well as cost avoidance.”