Bill Coen Appointed Chair of IFRS Advisory Council

The Trustees of the IFRS Foundation have appointed Bill Coen as Chair of the IFRS Advisory Council, effective immediately.

The Advisory Council supports the Trustees by providing strategic advice. Mr Coen has been appointed to chair the Council and consider how to improve its effectiveness.

Mr Coen was Secretary General of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision from 2014 to 2019 and Deputy Secretary General from 2007 to 2014. In his role as Secretary General, he chaired the Committee’s Policy Development Group, its Corporate Governance Task Force and the Coherence and Calibration Task Force. He served on the IFRS Advisory Council from 2016 until 2019.

He has also worked for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in Washington DC, with a variety of responsibilities relating to banking policy, supervision and licensing.

Mr Coen is from New York City and has a Master’s degree from Fordham University and Bachelor degree from Manhattan College.

The new Advisory Council Chair will have three priorities. First, to provide leadership and set the agenda for the 2020 meetings; second, to assess for the Trustees of the Foundation any relevant changes that may be warranted in the role and composition of the Advisory Council; and third, to position the Council through any transition.

This is a 12-month appointment (renewable once). At the end of this transitional phase, the Trustees will look to appoint a new Chair through a public nomination process.

Erkki Liikanen, Chair of the IFRS Foundation Trustees, said: “I am pleased to welcome Bill in his new role as Chair of the Advisory Council. He is highly qualified and has the skills needed to steer the group at this juncture.”