Gerrit Zalm former Dutch Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister - appointed Chairman of the Trustees
18 October 2007
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Biography of Gerrit Zalm
Criteria for selecting Trustees
Trustee Appointments Advisory Group
The International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) Foundation announced today that Gerrit Zalm, the former Deputy Prime Minister (2003─2007) and Finance Minister (1994─2002, 2003─2007) of the Netherlands, has accepted the Trustees’ invitation to become the next Chairman of the Trustees. The Trustees are the oversight body of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). Mr Zalm’s three-year term will begin on 1 January 2008.
The appointment follows an international search in which candidates and nominations were sought from a wide range of interested parties. Mr Zalm’s appointment carries the strong support of the Trustee Appointments Advisory Group, a group comprising leaders of major international organisations.
In announcing the appointment, Philip Laskawy, the current Chairman of the Trustees, expressed his delight, and that of the other Trustees, at Mr Zalm’s willingness to assume the chairmanship. He said:
Gerrit Zalm has been a leading advocate of the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) in the European Union and brings extensive experience in the field of international co-operation on economic policy issues. The experience he gained as the Dutch Finance Minister over nearly 12 years will be highly relevant as the organisation advances to its objective of having IFRSs implemented in a consistent manner throughout the world’s capital markets.
Speaking after his appointment, Gerrit Zalm said:
I am looking forward to working with my fellow Trustees and with David Tweedie and the other members of the International Accounting Standards Board. The IASC Foundation and the IASB have made extraordinary progress in a short period of time, and it is an honour to be selected to lead the organisation. There is a growing acceptance of the need for international accounting standards as the basis of financial reporting for the world’s rapidly integrating capital markets. It is the role of the Trustees to help ensure that progress continues on a worldwide basis. In the coming months, I will work with my colleagues on the Trustees to continue to implement a number of oversight initiatives already under way and to advance the establishment of a broad-based financing programme.
For press enquiries:
Mark Byatt, Director of Corporate Communications, Telephone: +44 (0)20 7246 6472; email: mbyatt@iasb.org
Sonja Horn, Communications Adviser, Telephone: +44 (0)20 7246 6463; email: shorn@iasb.org
NOTE TO EDITORS
1. The International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) Foundation, based in London, is the oversight body of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). The governance of the organisation rests with 22 Trustees. Six of the Trustees must be selected from the Asia/Oceania region, six from Europe, six from North America, and four from any region. The Chairman is a part-time position.
2. Paul Volcker, former chairman of the US Federal Reserve Board, served as the first Chairman of the Trustees from 2001 to 2005. Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa assumed the chairmanship in January 2006, but stepped down when he became Finance Minister of Italy in May 2006. Philip Laskawy, former Chairman of Ernst & Young International, has served as Chairman since then and will step down from that position when Mr Zalm takes office on 1 January 2008.
3. The IASC Foundation, through the IASB, is committed to developing, in the public interest, a single set of high quality, global accounting standards that require transparent and comparable information in general purpose financial statements. The IASC Foundation is funded by contributions from the major accounting firms, private financial institutions and industrial companies throughout the world, central and development banks, and other international and professional organisations.