Michel Barnier, European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services, welcomes the appointment of Hans Hoogervorst as future Chairman of the IASB: "Hans's background and experience as a minister and supervisor make him well suited to the job, giving him a good understanding for the broader international context in which the IASB operates." (click for full statement)

George Möller, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM), calls Hoogervorst's switch "a great pity for the AFM, but a great fortune for him, for the Netherlands and for the IASB." (our translation, click for full statement in Dutch)

Hans Hoogervorst, newly appointed IASB chairman, looks forward to his tasks with the IASB: "The standards are a motor of financial modernization, especially in the emerging markets." Nevertheless, he leaves the AFM "with a pain in the heart". (our translations, click for full statement in Dutch)

Michael Izza, chief executive of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, does not envy the tasks waiting for Hoogervorst: "He, and his future deputy Ian Mackintosh, needs to build on the tremendous progress made by David Tweedie towards achieving a single set of global accounting standards, working towards a positive US decision on adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). At the same time they need to inaugurate the transition to a new and very different phase of international accounting where the quality of existing and new standards is the overriding priority for the Board. They have an unenviable to-do list." (click for full statement)

Baroness Hogg, chairman of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), welcomes the appointment of Ian Mackintosh as vice-chairman: "This is a critical time in the development of a single set of high quality global accounting standards and I know that Ian's wealth of international experience will be of enormous value to the IASB." (click for full statement)

Insight into Hans Hoogervorst's thinking and an interview with Ian Mackintosh is also available in our new Robert Bruce column.