SEC names chief accountant

In one of her first significant appointments since becoming chairwoman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Elisse Walter has named acting SEC chief accountant Paul Beswick the agency’s permanent head accountant.

The choice was a relatively safe one for Walter, who became chairwoman of the SEC late last year following the departure of Mary Schapiro. Beswick became the top enforcer of US accounting and auditing policy after then chief accountant James Kroeker left the agency in July to return to the private sector. Kroeker will reportedly begin work with his prior employer Deloitte sometime this month. 

Paul Beswick

“Paul has served the Commission with great distinction and provided wise counsel on difficult accounting questions,” Walter said in a statement.

The SEC declined to comment on whether it pursued other candidates for the job. 

Recruited from Ernst & Young, Beswick first joined the agency in 2007, later working his way up to deputy chief accountant under Kroeker’s regime. Among other responsibilities, Beswick oversaw efforts to create accounting standards more mindful of private sector needs, a campaign which resulted in the formation of a Private Company Council  last year. 

Beswick also served as staff director of the SEC’s multiyear effort to evaluate the implications of merging US accounting standards with International Financial Reporting Standards, which are used by most of the world’s financial community. That effort began in early 2010, resulting in a final staff report published last summer which, to the chagrin of many, did not pin the government one way or the other on the matter.