The International Federation of Accountants has elected Australian accountant Rachel Grimes as IFAC’s next president for a two-year term.
South Korean accountant In-Ki Joo has been elected deputy president and is expected to succeed Grimes when her term ends in November 2018.
Grimes is a fellow of both the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia and CPA Australia. She is CFO of technology at Westpac, a multinational financial services firm. Before that, she served as director of mergers and acquisitions at Westpac. She has more than 25 years of experience in the financial services sector, at Westpac/BT Financial Group as well as at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
She was elected as president of the Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand (formerly the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia) in 2011 after serving on its board since 2006. Grimes has also been an IFAC board member since 2011. She was elected deputy president two years ago and previously chaired IFAC’s Planning and Finance Committee.
“I am honored to serve as IFAC’s President at a time of great global challenges,” Grimes said in a statement. “There are also remarkable opportunities to strengthen the accountancy profession and further the adoption of global standards in the public interest. As president, I look forward to working with our member organizations and other stakeholders as we continue to put trust at the heart of all we do, and at the heart of the global economy.”
Dr. In-Ki Joo is professor emeritus of accounting at the Yonsei University School of Business in Seoul, South Korea and has served as dean of various departments at the university. He has also been president of several professional institutions in Asia, notably the Confederation of Asian and Pacific Accountants, the Korean Accounting Association, and the Korean Academic Society of Business Administration. He was a member of the Advisory Committee to the Republic of Korea General Audit Bureau and the Vice President, International Affairs, at the Korean Institute of CPAs.
He is a member of both the American Institute of CPAs and the KICPA. Dr. Joo received the Decoration of Excellent Achievement from the President of Korea in 2004 and Honor from the Deputy Prime Minister and the Ministry of Finance and Economy in 2001. He has been an IFAC board member since 2012, chaired the Governance Committee and been on the Nominating Committee. As deputy president, he will chair IFAC’s Planning and Finance Committee.
The IFAC Council also elected three new members to the IFAC board: Philippe Arraou (France), Tommye Barie (United States), and Idesio da Silva Coelho (Brazil). Wienand Schruff (Germany), Michael Hathorn (UK), Gail McEvoy (Ireland), and Sebastian Owuama (Nigeria) were reappointed for a second term of service.
In addition the IFAC Council admitted three new members (previously known as IFAC associates): the Mauritius Institute of Professional Accountants, the Ordem dos Contabilistas Certificados (Portugal), and the Union of Accountants, Auditors and Financial Workers of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
