Paul Pacter has been named to a seat on the International Accounting Standards Board, replacing Jim Leisenring, whose term ends in June.
Pacter has served for the past six years as director of small and medium-sized entities for the IASB, and led the development of the slimmed-down set of International Financial Reporting Standards for SMEs. He has decided to serve a two-year term, rather than the customary five-year term, and will serve from June 1, 2010, to June 30, 2012. As an IASB member, he will continue to chair the new SME Implementation Group on behalf of the board.
Pacter, like his predecessor Leisenring, hails from the U.S. and is expected to continue to help with the convergence of U.S. GAAP and IFRS, but will probably not be as outspoken in criticizing standards such as IFRS 9.
He previously served as deputy director of research at the Financial Accounting Standards Board and as executive director of its parent, the Financial Accounting Foundation. He was also vice chairman of the advisory council to the U.S. Governmental Accounting Standards Board.
He has extensive experience in global financial reporting, particularly in Asia and the U.S. Since 2000, in addition to his IASB responsibilities, Pacter has been a part-time director in Deloittes global IFRS leadership team and a specialist in Chinese accounting standards. He has developed and managed the popular IAS Plus financial reporting Web site. Upon joining the IASB, Pacter will resign from his role at Deloitte.
Paul is a walking encyclopedia on global financial reporting, said IASB Chairman Sir David Tweedie in a statement. He served as the determined leader of the development of the IFRS for SMEs, is an expert in both IFRS and U.S. GAAP, and in his spare time has run one of the most popular financial reporting Web sites on the Internet. He will bring a global perspective and immense energy to the board.
