12th November 2020 – The Trustees of the IFRS Foundation, responsible for the governance and oversight of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), today announced the appointment of Prof Dr Andreas Barckow to serve as Chair of the IASB, effective July 2021. He will succeed Hans Hoogervorst, who completes his second five-year term in June 2021.
Dr Barckow is an experienced and highly regarded leader in the field of international accounting. Since 2015, he has served as President of the Accounting Standards Committee of Germany (Deutsches Rechnungslegungs Standards Committee e.V.). His contributions at both an international and European level have helped shape the development and future direction of IFRS Standards around the world.
He has been an active participant in numerous advisory bodies to the IFRS Foundation and the IASB, including membership of the IASB’s Accounting Standards Advisory Forum and the IFRS Advisory Council. Moreover, he is an acknowledged expert in IFRS Standards, having previously served as the lead technical partner for financial reporting matters in the German member firm of Deloitte.
Dr Barckow holds a Diploma and Doctorate degree in Business Administration from the University of Paderborn and is an Honorary Professor at WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management. He will step down from all his present positions once he joins the IASB.
Dr Barckow’s appointment follows an extensive international search process, supported by a global executive search firm. The Trustees sought nominations from around 500 stakeholder organisations and considered more than 200 candidates from 29 countries before compiling a reduced list of 63 possible candidates from 21 countries. The appointment of Dr Barckow is supported by the IFRS Foundation Monitoring Board, which oversees various aspects of the governance of the IFRS Foundation.
Commenting on the appointment, Erkki Liikanen, Chair of the IFRS Foundation Trustees, said: “We are delighted to announce the appointment of Andreas Barckow as IASB Chair. His skills and experience will be invaluable to the IASB as it begins the next stage in its evolution as a global accounting standard-setter. The Trustees would like to express our profound thanks to Hans Hoogervorst, who during his tenure has provided such strong leadership to the IASB and overseen the delivery and worldwide adoption of major enhancements to IFRS Standards.”
Dr Barckow said: “I am deeply honoured to be appointed as the next IASB Chair, to lead the standard-setter into its third decade. I look forward to working with my colleagues on the Board and the staff to meet the exciting challenges ahead.”
