Bulletin
2002/1 - 19 February 2002
The Chairman of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), Mr Jeffrey Lucy, AM, today announced four part-time appointments or re-appointments to the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB).
The FRC is the peak body responsible for the broad oversight of the accounting standard setting process for the private and public sectors. It comprises key stakeholders from the business community, the professional accounting bodies, governments and regulatory agencies. Under the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001, the FRC is responsible for appointing members of the AASB other than the Chairman who is appointed by the Treasurer.
The FRC has agreed to re-appoint Ms Ruth Picker, Director, National Accounting & Auditing Services, Ernst & Young, Melbourne, for a term of three years. Her present term expired on 14 February 2002.
Newly appointed to the Board, each for a term of three years, are:
- Ms Judith Downes, Head of Finance, ANZ Banking Group, Melbourne;
- Professor Ken Leo, Professor of Accounting, Curtin University of Technology, Perth; and
- Ms Suzanne Lloyd, Director, Debt Capital Markets, Deutsche Bank AG, Sydney.
Mr Lucy congratulated the successful candidates and welcomed Ms Downes, Professor Leo and Ms Lloyd to the Board. He noted that Ms Downes has extensive experience in financial reporting and the application of accounting standards from a preparer perspective, and was a member of the Urgent Issues Group, a committee of the AASB, until the end of last year. Professor Leo has taught and written about accounting issues over a long period, as well as gaining practical experience (from 1995 to 2001) as a member of the Urgent Issues Group. Ms Lloyd brings to the Board considerable expertise in the application and interpretation of accounting standards in the capital markets, including from the viewpoint of the requirements of investors.
On behalf of the FRC, Mr Lucy also thanked two retiring members of the Board: Professor Graham Peirson, Professor of Accounting and Finance at Monash University, and Mr Peter Batten, Group Accounting Adviser, WMC Resources Limited, Melbourne.
Professor Peirson was a long-standing member of the previous Australian Accounting Standards Board and its public sector counterpart, the Public Sector Accounting Standards Board, and was Deputy Chairman of the present Board from June 2001 until February 2002. Mr Lucy paid tribute to Professor Peirson's valuable contribution to accounting standard setting over a long period. The AASB will greatly miss his experience, helpfulness and extensive knowledge of the history of issues, he said.
Mr Batten has served on the Board since February 2000 and decided not to seek re-appointment. During his term on the Board Mr Batten provided valuable advice to the Board from a preparer's perspective.
Mr Kevin Stevenson resigned from the AASB at the end of last year to take up an appointment as Director of Technical Activities at the International Accounting Standards Board in London. Mr Lucy thanked Mr Stevenson for his considerable contribution to the Board and to accounting standard setting in Australia over a long period, and wished him well in his new role.
The appointments announced today result from a comprehensive merit selection process against selection criteria released by the FRC last year (and available on its website, www.frc.gov.au). They were made from a strong field of candidates drawn from responses to a national press advertisement in September 2001 calling for expressions of interest in appointment to the Board, and names previously suggested by stakeholders in the accounting standard setting process.
Mr Lucy said that he had written to unsuccessful candidates but also wanted to place on the public record the FRC's thanks to those who were willing to be considered for appointment to the Board - a demanding part-time role involving a significant public interest element.
The appointments announced today reflect the particular skill requirements of the Board at this time, Mr Lucy said. He had advised a number of candidates that the FRC had placed their names on a list of potential candidates to be considered as future vacancies occur. The list will reflect the need for balanced expertise from the perspective of preparers, users and auditors of financial statements for both the private and public sectors.
Mr Lucy also thanked the members of the FRC Nominations Committee for their work in advancing the appointments. The Committee, which was established by the FRC to advise on AASB appointments and the appointment process, first met in May 2001. Its charter is available on the FRC website.
The full membership of the AASB following these changes is shown in an attachment.
For further information, please contact the secretariat of the Financial Reporting Council, c/- The Treasury, Langton Crescent, Parkes ACT 2600.
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Mr Michael Kooymans |
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Ph: |
(02) 6263 3984 |
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Fax: |
(02) 6263 2770 |
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E–mail: |
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ATTACHMENT
Members of the Australian Accounting Standards Board
The full-time Chairman of the AASB, appointed by the Treasurer is:
- Keith Alfredson, BCom, FCA, FCPA, FAICD
The part-time members of the AASB, appointed by the Financial Reporting Council, are:
- Wayne Cameron, BCom, FCA (NZ), FCPA, FIPAA, Auditor-General of Victoria
- George Carter, FCPA, Department of Finance and Administration, Canberra;
- Neil Conn, AO, PhD, MEc, FAIM, FAICD, former Under-Treasurer of the Northern Territory, now residing in Sydney;
- Brigid Curran, BCom, MFM, ACA, CPA, Financial Reporting Consultant, Melbourne;
- Judith Downes, BA(Hons), DipEd, CA, FCPA, Head of Finance, ANZ Banking Group, Melbourne;
- Ken Leo, MBA, BCom(Hons), FCPA, CA, Professor of Accounting, Curtin University of Technology, Perth;
- Suzanne Lloyd, MCom(Hons), ASA, Director, Debt Capital Markets, Deutsche Bank AG, Sydney;
- Ruth Picker, BA, FCA, ASIA, Partner, Ernst & Young, Melbourne;
- Greg Ward, MEc, ACA, Executive Director, Chief Financial Officer, Macquarie Bank, Sydney.