Securities and Exchange Commission Chief Accountant James L. Kroeker will leave his post in July to enter the private sector.

James Kroeker

Kroeker joined the SEC in 2007 as deputy chief accountant, and became chief accountant in January 2009. He has been the commission's point person on a number of issues, with perhaps the most important being its still-pending decision on whether and how to adopt International Financial Reporting Standards in the U.S.

"Jim has provided superb counsel on a range of accounting- and auditing-related matters and has always stressed the importance of accounting to our investor protection mission," said SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro in a statement.

"It has been a unique privilege to be a member of the commission's staff during this truly unprecedented time and to have had the opportunity to work alongside the talented and dedicated individuals in the SEC's Office of the Chief Accountant and across the commission," Kroeker said in a statement.

At the SEC, Mr. Kroeker served as staff director of the agency's study of fair value accounting standards, which was mandated by Congress in 2008, and led the efforts of the Office of the Chief Accountant to improve off-balance-sheet accounting standards. 

Before joining the commission, Kroeker was a partner at Deloitte & Touche LLP, and had served as a practice fellow at the Financial Accounting Standards Board.