The Financial Accounting Foundation, the parent organization of the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board and the Private Company Council, has elected Charles H. Noski as its new chairman, succeeding Jeffrey J. Diermeier, whose term ends on December 31.
Noski retired as vice chairman of Bank of America Corporation in 2012, after serving as the corporation’s executive vice president and chief financial officer.
He is currently on the board and chairs the audit committees of Avon Products and Microsoft, and is a director at Priceline and a board director of the National Association of Corporate Directors.
“As a board member and audit committee chair for major corporations, Chuck Noski will bring to the board of trustees a deep appreciation of the role that high-quality accounting standards play in promoting investor confidence in companies and capital markets,” Diermeier said in a statement. “That, coupled with his experience as a chief financial officer and independent auditor, gives Chuck an important perspective on the concerns of all of our stakeholders.”
Former Securities and Exchange Commission chair Mary L. Schapiro also praised Noski. “During my tenure at the SEC, I appreciated the FAF’s commitment to promoting transparent, complete, and informative financial reporting that best serves the interests of those who invest in the U.S. capital markets,” she said. “Chuck Noski’s significant experience in corporate governance and as an audit committee chair clearly puts him in the camp of those who are dedicated to investor interests.”
Noski said, “I’m honored to have been elected chair of the FAF Board of Trustees. My experience as chair of the Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council gave me important insight into the work of the FAF and its standard-setting boards. I’m committed to working collaboratively with the Trustees and our boards to ensure that our standard-setting process continues to improve to meet and balance the needs of our diverse stakeholders.”
The FAF also announced the appointment of five other new trustees, each to a five-year term beginning Jan. 1, 2016: Charles M. Allen, a partner and vice chairman with Crowe Horwath LLP; Christine M. Cumming, retired first vice president and chief operating officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York; Eugene Flood, Jr., a member of the board of directors of Janus Capital Group, and a former board member of other major asset management firms, including TIAA-CREF and Smith Breeden Associates; Kenneth B. Robinson, former chief audit executive and global risk and compliance leader of the Procter & Gamble; and Diane M. Rubin, retired audit partner and quality control partner of Novogradac & Company LLP.
Five of the 18 trustees who will serve in the coming year have direct experience as investors. Five investor trustees served on the FAF board in 2015, four from 2012 to 2014, three from 2009 to 2011, and two from 2003 to 2009.”
Four of the six new trustee appointments will fill upcoming vacancies on the Board of Trustees. In addition to Diermeier, trustees whose terms conclude on Dec. 31, 2015 are Carol Anthony (John) Davidson, Steven R. Howe, Jr., and W. M. (Mack) Lawhon.
The fifth appointment will fill an existing vacancy created by the resignation in late 2014 of former trustee Teri List-Stoll. The sixth appointment was made at the discretion of the trustees, who are permitted to name as many as 18 members to the board.
The trustees also reappointed trustee Terry D. Warfield, PwC Professor in Accounting and Chair of the Department of Accounting and Information Systems at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Warfield’s new term will end on Dec. 31, 2018.
