The International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation, which oversees the International Accounting Standards Board, has selected Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa as the new chairman of its board of trustees.

Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa

Padoa-Schioppa is the former Italian minister of economy and finance. He also briefly served as chairman of the IASC Foundation Trustees from January 2006 to May 2006 before becoming minister of economy and finance. His appointment was approved Friday by the Monitoring Board that oversees the IASC Foundation and the IASB. He will take over the role of chairman from Gerrit Zalm, whose term expires this year, after the trustees’ meeting on July 7 and 8.

The IASC Foundation will be changing its name to the IFRS Foundation on July 1 to reflect its emphasis on International Financial Reporting Standards.

“I am honored to be asked to return as chairman of the IASC Foundation Trustees,” Padoa-Schioppa said in a statement. “The G-20 and others have recognized the importance of achieving a single set of high-quality accounting standards, applied consistently throughout the world’s capital markets. I look forward to working closely with the Monitoring Board, my fellow trustees and the foundation’s stakeholders around the world in order to achieve this important objective. I would also like to thank Gerrit Zalm for his strong and determined leadership of the IASC Foundation throughout his two-and-a-half years as chairman.”