KPMG’s Tokar appointed to the IASB

The head of KPMG’s international financial reporting group, Mary Tokar, has been given a seat on the International Accounting Standards Board. 

Starting in January Tokar will serve as a member for an initial term ending in June 2017, which is renewable for a further three years. She replaces Paul Pacter, who will be retiring from the board at the end of the year.

Tokar is a name known well in accounting circles. During her ten years with KPMG she spearheaded the Big Four accounting firm’s efforts to harmonise accounting standards worldwide – including campaigns in both developed and emerging economies. To that end, IASB is trying to sync its accounting framework with the US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), which would represent a significant milestone in the adoption of global reporting standards, a goal which has proven difficult. 

Mary Tokar

KPMG declined to comment on the appointment. 

Tokar’s appointment may provide the IASB insights into what it would take to get the US fully on board with global accounting standards. Prior to joining KPMG in 2000, Tokar completed a six year stint with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the US agency responsible for studying the costs and benefits of merging US standards with an international body of standard setters. With the SEC, Tokar served in the office of the Chief Accountant as a senior associate chief accountant, where she was the primary SEC representative for international accounting and reporting issues.

In a statement, IASB chairman Hans Hoogervorst praised Tokar’s appointment, saying she exhibited a “straight-talking, no-nonsense approach when discussing financial reporting issues”.

In related news, the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Foundation, which is the IASB’s parent body,  has opened an office in Tokyo. From Japan the foundation will promote its global accounting standards in the increasingly influential Asia-Pacific region.

The office opening was presided over by Toshitaka Hagiwara, president of the Japanese Financial Accounting Standards Foundation and by Michel Prada, chairman of the trustees of the IFRS Foundation.