We support our clients from every direction to build a better working world.

—— What is the strength of EY Japan in supporting your clients?

Takizawa: Solving client issues requires access to services, knowledge and other global resources beyond Japan. Although there are other professional firms out there that are active on a global basis, EY is unique: we are 330,000 people spanning the globe, acting like one family group, with a well-established professional culture.

When our clients venture into countries or regions which are new to them, we refer them to our member firms that offer local coverage. Even when we send an email to someone we have never spoken to or met previously, they are happy to help us, and vice versa. This is the norm at EY. It is only possible because of our culture of helping each other regardless of how we might benefit from it.

Katakura: Our purpose is Building a better working world. Although cultures and work styles may differ from country to country, EY people from around the world are like-minded and aiming to build a better working world. It is natural for us to work together to achieve this goal.

—— EY Japan established the LTV Promotional Office in 2020. How are the four service lines collaborating with each other in Japan?

Takizawa: EY Japan has four service lines: Assurance, Tax, Consulting, and Strategy and Transactions. They support our clients from each angle. Regardless of service line, all clients share the same vital management issues of incorporating Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) perspectives and sustainability into management strategies and enhancing corporate value. To respond to these issues, we launched the LTV Promotional Office which can provide our clients with integrated services across service lines.

As the leader of the LTV Promotional Office, I have frequent discussions with the professionals from each service line to understand client needs, provide services that are more helpful and deliver information attuned to those needs. With experts from various fields such as tax, accounting or M&A, we provide team support from every angle, placing clients at the center of our response.

Katakura: Sustainability efforts have now gained recognition as an indispensable element of corporate management strategies to enhance corporate value, backed by the popularity of ESG investment. EY has a range of professionals specialized in supporting each step of the process which includes how to incorporate sustainability in management strategies (upstream), setting and measuring KPIs, disclosure through integrated reports and securities reports, and assurance on disclosure (downstream). This is Building a better working world in action. In particular, EY Assurance already has a third-party assurance framework such as independence standards and quality control systems cultivated though auditing financial statements for clients. Proper disclosure of corporate sustainability initiatives and their outcomes backed by our professional assurance will exponentially enhance the reliability of the information. This allows investors and other stakeholders to make decisions with confidence.

Auditing corporate financial statements requires complex areas of expertise such as international taxation or assessing the right price for corporate acquisitions. We are able to provide high quality audits through the collaboration of professionals from each country or service line, and the same applies to sustainability audits. One of our biggest strengths is that our professionals share the EY purpose, and are therefore well-equipped to collaborate in a more profound and sophisticated way.

—— The issue of climate change and other societal changes are accelerating now more than ever. Companies need to change. What kind of future does EY Japan present to clients?

Takizawa: Let’s say a client asks for help in reducing CO² emissions. We will not respond with a simple numerical target. Instead, we ask questions. Why do you want to reduce them? How does that relate to your corporate philosophy? We suggest that our clients take a step back and review the fundamentals of the issue. In short, we begin with setting their purpose. So, what starts as a project of the IR division may evolve into helping clients formulate management plans, and eventually escalate to helping set the client’s corporate philosophy. We engage in a dialogue with the client about why they exist and examine corporate activities beginning with purpose. It is a very fulfilling journey.

Katakura: More and more companies are disclosing non-financial information such as the impact of climate change, but this is only the beginning. Some clients request standardized criteria for assessment, while others want to freely express their uniqueness, thinking outside the box. However, in each case, the bottom line is how investors and the vast range of stakeholders perceive the information. Disclosure requires comparability and comprehensibility, in addition to the client’s message. More investors may want some attestation about the reliability of the information. This will naturally raise the significance of assurance in non-financial information.

Today, increasing weight is attached to companies’ initiatives on sustainability. By supporting clients through EY’s mainstay business, we help clients take a step forward and, in turn, contribute to protecting the global environment or solving social issues. This is a virtuous cycle where our business will lead to changing society and enriching people’s lives, and it is EY Japan’s ultimate mission.