Changing of the guard at the IASB

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01 Jul 2011

Today sees the changing of the guard at the IASB.

Sir David Tweedie's ten-year tenure as Chairman came to an end at midnight in London and a new Chairman took over. To mark this event IAS Plus brings its readers an exclusive and extensive interview with Hans Hoogervorst, the new IASB Chairman, while Robert Bruce, regular resident columnist for IAS Plus, provides an assessment of the prospects for change.

Hoogervorst talks of the need to strengthen the sense of ownership internationally in the IASB, in particular in Asia and Latin America. He emphasises the need for standards to be principle-based and rooted in economic reality. He talks of the problems of Other Comprehensive Income and the difficulties of the insurance industry. He says it is too early to tell whether outstanding differences with FASB over financial instruments can be resolved. And he is emphatic that 'ultimately there is only one accounting language. The world language is going to be IFRS', he said.

Robert Bruce argues that following the change in Chairmanship the fundamental qualities of independence, transparency and pragmatism will remain and with an emphasis on truly global objectives the embedding of IFRS securely around the world is likely to accelerate. But there are exceptionally difficult times ahead.

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