Shaping IASC for the Future:
First Meeting of IAS Trustees and Appointment of New IASC Board Chair
The newly-appointed Trustees of the International Accounting Standards Committee held their first meeting in New York on Wednesday 28 June 2000, with 17 of the 19 members participating.
Discussions were focused on strategic and organisational matters. These included procedures for appointing the 14 members of the IASC Board which will be responsible, in the wording of the new IASC Constitution, for developing «high quality, understandable and enforceable global accounting standards». Trustees underscored their commitment to finding Board members with personal integrity, technical competency, analytical and communication skills and a judicial temperament. They also recognised the particular importance and role of the IASC Board Chairman, who will also act as chief executive officer.
The Trustees agreed that its work would be greatly facilitated by the early appointment of the Board Chairman. Taking into account consultation with interested parties prior to the meeting, there was unanimity among the Trustees that Sir David Tweedie, Chairman of the United Kingdom Accounting Standards Board, should be invited to become Chairman.
Sir David has a broad, and indeed unique, background for the position – as a public accountant, academic, chairman of the UK Accounting Standard Board, and with experience in consultation with both public and private organisations involved in setting accounting standards.
Paul Volcker, Chairman of the IASC Trustees, commented: «Sir David will bring to the IASC outstanding qualities. He has a unique blend of experience and is well known in Europe, the Asia/Pacific region and North America. I have learned that he is greatly respected by the various groups concerned with building a strong IASC structure».
Sir David was excited by the appointment, commenting: «I am delighted to be invited to serve the new IASC Board as its first Chairman. We have a unique opportunity to advance the quality of global financial reporting, and I am looking forward to working with the new Board.»
The Trustees considered the most effective means of selecting other IASC Board members. A sub-committee of Trustees has been constituted to oversee the process of selecting Board members. The procedures will be designed to permit careful evaluation of candidates, focusing on their expertise and relevant experience, while respecting the need for a diversity of backgrounds.
The Trustees have also established a committee to develop plans for assured and adequate financing. They underscored the importance of the efforts to achieve global accounting standards in the interest of efficiency in the global capital markets as a whole and of those using and preparing accounts. In that context, it welcomes the support of the international business community in providing leadership in raising the necessary funds.