Paul Cherry was appointed Chairman of the (then) Standards Advisory Council (SAC) in December 2008.  His initial three year term commenced on 1 January 2009 and was extended in June 2011 for a further two years to end on 31 December 2013. During his term, the SAC was renamed the IFRS Advisory Council and underwent a number of changes.

In his article, Mr Cherry notes the following:

• A number of important changes made to the structure and role of the IFRS Advisory Council, including most members now being appointed as representatives of organisations rather than as individuals
• The appropriateness of the size and composition of the Council, including broad geographic and constituent diversity and efforts to increase representation of financial statement users
• Improvements in feedback from constituents on the performance of the Council
• A change in focus from technical matters to more a strategic and cross-cutting matters, which has been facilitated by the establishment of the Accounting Standards Advisory Forum (ASAF)
• Future changes in the operation of the Council, including topics such as whether the Council should have a higher profile, how the Council should assist the IASB in the promotion and adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), and the consultation process and interaction of the Council's activities with the IASB's current agenda.

In relation to the last two points above, Mr Cherry provides the following assessment:

The strategic focus will need to be a conscious approach in the future, including (i) a longer-term view of the IASB’s agenda beyond the current agenda, (ii) a wider view of the financial reporting environment, including corporate reporting trends and the issues that are likely to affect financial reporting in the future, and (iii) the broader context of corporate reporting and of developments related to corporate reporting. These developments include integrated reporting, technological/digital developments and other areas that are likely to affect financial reporting in the future.

In December 2013, the Trustees announced the appointment of Joanna Perry as Chairman of the IFRS Advisory Council with effect from 1 January 2014.

The full text of Paul Cherry's article is available on the IASB website.