Andreas Barckow, an accounting professor and president of the Accounting Standards Committee of Germany, was appointed Thursday by the trustees of the International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation, as the next chair of the International Accounting Standards Board, succeeding longtime chairman Hans Hoogervorst, starting in July 2021.
Hoogervorst will be completing the second of his five-year terms at the end of June leading the IFRS standard-setting board. Barckow is seen as a highly respected leader in the field of international accounting. He has overseen the German standard-setting board, also known as Deutsches Rechnungslegungs Standards Committee, since 2015, where he has helped shape IFRS. He has been active in advisory committees for both the IASB and the IFRS Foundation, including the IASB's Accounting Standards Advisory Forum and the IFRS Advisory Council. He was formerly the lead technical partner for financial reporting matters in the German member firm of Deloitte in Frankfurt. Barckow has a doctorate degree from the University of Paderborn and is an honorary professor at the WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management. Last year, Dr. Barckow was reappointed as board vice president of the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group. He plans to step down from his current jobs once he joins the IASB.
“I am deeply honored to be appointed as the next IASB chair, to lead the standard-setter into its third decade,” said Barckow in a statement Thursday. “I look forward to working with my colleagues on the Board and the staff to meet the exciting challenges ahead.”
With Hoogervorst’s term ending next year, the IFRS Foundation trustees have been searching for a successor, soliciting nominations from approximately 500 organizations around the world and considering over 200 possible candidates from 29 different countries before whittling down the selections to 63 possible candidates from 21 countries. The IFRS Foundation Monitoring Board, which oversees some aspects of the IFRS Foundation’s governance, approved the appointment of Barckow.
“We are delighted to announce the appointment of Andreas Barckow as IASB chair,” said IFRS Foundation chair Erkki Liikanen in a statement. “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.”
