Senator Nick Sherry, the Minister for Superannuation and Corporate Law, has announced the appointment of Mr Kevin Stevenson as the full-time Chairman of the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) for a five-year term from 1 July 2009.
The AASB is the Commonwealth statutory body responsible for setting accounting standards for companies, not-for-profit entities and the public sector. Australia adopted International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) on 1 January 2005.
Mr Stevenson has had a distinguished accounting career and held significant positions related to accounting standards and accounting research activities in Australia and internationally.
These positions have included Executive Director of the Australian Accounting Research Foundation, Member of the Australian Accounting Standards Board, National Technical Partner for a top tier accounting firm and Director of Technical Activities for the International Accounting Standards Board in London. Mr Stevenson is currently a Senior Partner with the Global Capital Markets Group at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
"Mr Stevenson is internationally recognised for his accounting expertise and knowledge of accounting standard issues," said Minister Sherry.
Minister Sherry expressed the Government's appreciation for the significant contribution Professor David Boymal, the former Chairman of the AASB, has made to accounting standards setting during his five-year term as Chairman.
"His term of office coincided with Australia's move to IFRS at the start of 2005. It was a period of significant change and the AASB, under Professor Boymal's guidance, managed the transition very successfully," Minister Sherry said.