Frederick University's Department of Business Administration and the Centre for Research in Entrepreneurship, Finance, and Strategy (CERFS) are organizing a workshop on Wednesday, November 27th, at the University's Nicosia campus.

The workshop is titled "The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the impact of ESG (Environmental, social, and governance) on corporate risk and financing" and it will be held from 16:00 to 19:00 at Seminar Room 1 (New building, 1st floor - 7, Y. Frederickou str., Pallouriotissa). 

Participants are invited to explore recent developments in ESG regulations and corporate policy. The event will focus on explaining the new Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and its impact on firms' required investments in ESG.

The workshop will also provide an initial look at the influence of ESG on corporate loan risk and financing.

To register to the event, click here.

The workshop agenda is as follows:

16:00 Introduction

16:05-16:50 Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and Corporate Reporting connectivity

Presented by Mr. Stavros Violaris, EY & Ms Constantina Charalambidou, EY

16:55-17:20 Identifying greenwashing in corporate‐social responsibility reports using natural‐language processing

Presented by Dr. Michalis Makrominas, Assistant Professor, and Dr. Nina Gorovaia, Faculty members of the School of Business and Law

17:20-17:40 Coffee break

17:40-18:20 ESG for Financial Institutions

Presented by Nicolas Christodoulides, Senior ESG Analyst, Bank of Cyprus

18:20-18:45 Sustainability linked financing

Presented by Elettra Agliardi, University of Bologna

18:45-19:00 Concluding remarks  

Speakers info:

Stavros Violaris is a Partner at EY Cyprus, leading the Climate Change and Sustainability Services and also the sustainable finance agenda in the CESA region, spearheading projects across 32 countries. His expertise extends across a diverse clientele, including banks, insurers, asset managers, pension schemes, hedge funds, private equity firms, and various corporate entities. Stavros' academic credentials include a Master of Science in Finance from the University of Lancaster, complemented by his status as a qualified ACCA member and a CFA charter-holder. His academic excellence was recognized with the prestigious Princess Alexandra medal. He is also a member of The Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Cyprus (ICPAC). Stavros has led numerous transformative projects across the financial and non-financial corporate sectors, particularly in ESG transformation, financial and non-financial reporting and sustainable finance. This encompasses providing guidance to major systemic banks on their sustainability strategies, delivering non-financial reporting advisory services to both financial and non-financial institutions, calculating greenhouse gas emissions, formulating decarbonization plans, implementing ESG strategy initiatives, promoting circular economy principles, and conducting specialized ESG training for Boards and C-suite executives.

Constantina Charalambous is a Corporate Reporting expert with practical experience as both an advisor and auditor. She holds a BSc in Accounting and Finance from the University of Warwick. She is a qualified accountant and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales (ICAEW) and of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Cyprus (ICPAC). Via her membership of the ICPAC’s ESG & Sustainability Committee, Constantina actively engages in discussions and policy decisions on ESG standards (both at the international and the European arena).
She is leading a number of financial accounting support and sustainability report advisory and assurance projects for a number of companies in Cyprus, across all sectors. In her role she participates in international expert groups of EY’s Corporate Reporting Services helping EY’s clients to address challenges in financial and sustainability topics.

Nicolas Christodoulides is a Senior ESG analyst at the Bank of Cyprus and is responsible for the coordination and implementation of the Organisation's ESG agenda. He is currently responsible for the estimation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions based on Greenhouse Gas protocol and Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 emissions), setting of decarbonization targets based on a climate scenario and designing the strategy to meet those targets. Nicolas is also responsible of the production of ESG Disclosures and Sustainability Report (TCFD, CSRD and GRI standards) and is also involved in several ESG projects currently undertaken by the Bank. Nicolas is an ICAEW Qualified Chartered Accountant with more than six years of experience in a Big Four accounting firm. Nicolas has accumulated significant experience in auditing and has led several long-term cross-functional IFRS 17 consulting projects in Cyprus and abroad.

Elettra Agliardi is Full Professor in Economics at the Department of Economics, University of Bologna (Italy) since 2000. She obtained an M.Phil and a PhD in Economics at the University of Cambridge (UK) and a PhD (with special mention and Obiettivo Europa Prize) at the European University Institute. Before joining the University of Bologna, she was Junior Research Officer, Department of Applied Economics (DAE) and College Lecturer in Economics and Fellow (Title A), Churchill College, University of Cambridge (U.K). She was Director of the PhD Program in Economics, University of Bologna, 2001-2003, Director of Studies of the International Master Degree “Economics and Market Policy”, 2008-2012, and Director of Studies of the International Master Degree “Resource Economics and Sustainable Development”, 2016-2019. Her recent research areas deal with real options and evaluation methods, corporate finance, environmental policies, the economics of climate change and climate finance.

Dr. Nina Gorovaia is an Associate Professor at Frederick University's School of Business and Law. She holds a PhD degree in Social and Economic Sciences from Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, Masters and Bachelor’s degrees with honours in International Business from Lomonosov University in Moscow (MGU). The doctoral thesis received an award at the international workshop organised by the Bratislava University of Economics and Business Administration and is published by Peter Lang Verlag. Dr. Gorovaia’s research interests include international market entry strategy, organisational networks, franchising, knowledge management, and innovation. She published in international refereed journals like Industrial Marketing Management, International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management, Managerial and Decision Economics, Service Industries Journal, Journal of Management and Governance, Journal of Process and Knowledge Management, Global Business and Economics review. She is a recipient of the “Best Paper Reviewer award” from the International Society of Franchising. Dr. Gorovaia received two Ernst Mach post-doctoral scholarships from the Austrian Exchange Service and numerous grants from COST, Leonardo da Vinci and Erasmus programs. She is regularly invited to teach graduate and doctoral seminars in international management and strategy at the University of Vienna and other universities abroad. Dr. Gorovaia is a co-organiser of the EMNET conference and CYEC (Cyprus Entrepreneurship Competition).

Dr. Michalis Makrominas holds a PhD in Finance and Accounting from Imperial College and an MBA in Finance from Vanderbilt University. He is currently an Assistant Professor in Finance at Frederick University's School of Business and Law. He has also served as an external grader in the Certificate for Quantitative Finance programme of 7City, London. His research focuses on Capital Markets, Corporate Finance and Shipping Finance. Recent work also examines Corporate Social Responsibility, ESG and Geopolitical Risk. Michalis has also participated in a number of funded research projects in excess of 3 mln EU. He has applied valuation theory in the appraisal of eco-system services as well as data science methods for the processing of very large satellite data