Monday, February 08, 2010

Two CFOs Named to IASB to Bring Practical Experience in Preparing Financial Statements

Two chief financial officers have been named members of the International Accounting Standards Board. Dr. Elke König of Germany and Darrel Scott of South Africa will begin their five-year terms as full-time members of the IASB in July and October 2010 respectively. They replace Robert Garnett of South Africa and Gilbert Gelard of France. A search is ongoing for a replacement for James Leisenring of the U.S., who retires at the end of June 2010. Gerrit Zalm, Chair of the IASB oversight committee, praised the practical experience in the use and preparation of financial statements that the new members will bring to the Board.

Dr König has served as a senior financial executive in the insurance industry. From 2002 to 2009 she served as CFO of Hannover Re Group, a leading international reinsurance group. Previously she spent twelve years as a member of the senior management of Munich Re, with specific responsibility for the group’s accounting and controlling activities. She is currently serving in non-executive capacities as chairperson of Hannover Finanz GmbH and as a member of the supervisory board of Deutsche Hypothekenbank Aktiengesellschaft. Dr König has been a member of the CFO Forum of European insurers, where she has been actively engaged in the IASB’s project on insurance contracts.

Mr Scott is CFO of the FirstRand Banking Group, one of the largest financial institutions in South Africa. He has responsibility for both statutory and regulatory financial reporting under the Basel II Accords. He serves on various Governance, Risk, Operation and Strategic Committees of the Group. Mr Scott is also a member of the IASB’s International Financial Reporting Interpretations Committee (IFRIC), a position from which he will resign to become an IASB member.


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