 |
|
|
GERRIT ZALM APPOINTED CHAIRMAN OF IASF TRUSTEES |
| Source: | IASB | | Country: | International- IASB | | Date: | 18/10/2007 | | Contributor: | Andy Lymer | | Web: | http://www.iasb.org |
|
|
|
Related Media
Related Items
|
|
The International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) Foundation announced today that Gerrit Zalm, the former Deputy Prime Minister (2003?2007) and Finance Minister (1994?2002, 2003?2007) of the Netherlands, has accepted the Trustees’ invitation to become the next Chairman of the Trustees. The Trustees are the oversight body of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). Mr Zalm’s three-year term will begin on
1 January 2008.
The appointment follows an international search in which candidates and nominations were sought from a wide range of interested parties. Mr Zalm’s appointment carries the strong support of the Trustee Appointments Advisory Group, a group comprising leaders of major international organisations.
In announcing the appointment, Philip Laskawy, the current Chairman of the Trustees, expressed his delight, and that of the other Trustees, at Mr Zalm’s willingness to assume the chairmanship. He said: "Gerrit Zalm has been a leading advocate of the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) in the European Union and brings extensive experience in the field of international co-operation on economic policy issues. The experience he gained as the Dutch Finance Minister over nearly 12 years will be highly relevant as the organisation advances to its objective of having IFRSs implemented in a consistent manner throughout the world’s capital markets."
Speaking after his appointment, Gerrit Zalm said: "I am looking forward to working with my fellow Trustees and with David Tweedie and the other members of the International Accounting Standards Board. The IASC Foundation and the IASB have made extraordinary progress in a short period of time, and it is an honour to be selected to lead the organisation. There is a growing acceptance of the need for international accounting standards as the basis of financial reporting for the world’s rapidly integrating capital markets. It is the role of the Trustees to help ensure that progress continues on a worldwide basis. In the coming months, I will work with my colleagues on the Trustees to continue to implement a number of oversight initiatives already under way and to advance the establishment of a broad-based financing programme."
Biography of Gerrit Zalm
Gerrit Zalm is a former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of the Netherlands. Having served under four governments from 1994 to 2007, he is the longest serving Minister of Finance in the history of his country.
Beginning in 1975 and before becoming Minister of Finance in 1994, Mr Zalm held a number of high level positions in the Dutch Ministry of Finance and Ministry for Economic Affairs.
In 1981 he was appointed the Deputy Director for Budgetary Affairs and Head of the Budget Preparation Division. In 1983 Mr Zalm was appointed Deputy Director for General Economic Policy at the Ministry for Economic Affairs, becoming head of that directorate in 1985. He then joined the Central Planning Bureau in 1988, first as a Deputy Managing Director and from 1989 as Managing Director. He also served as part-time Professor in Economics at Amsterdam Free University (discipline Economic Policy) from 1990.
Since leaving the Dutch Government in February 2007, Mr Zalm has taken a number of advisory positions for private organisations. He is currently Chief Economist for DSB Bank, a consultant to PricewaterhouseCoopers in the Netherlands, and an adviser to Permira, a private equity fund. Mr Zalm is also Chairman of the Advisory Council of We go 4 it, a co-operative effort among the social assistance organisations of the four largest cities of the Netherlands.
Gerrit Zalm was born in Enkhuizen on 6 May 1952, is married and has five children. After completing his secondary education, he received a degree in General Economics at Amsterdam Free University in 1975. |
|
|
|
|
|
