NEWS RELEASE 04/24/02
Robert H. Herz Named Chairman of the Financial Accounting Standards Board
Norwalk, CT, April 24, 2002—Robert H. Herz, a senior partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers, has been named Chairman of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). Mr. Herz will succeed outgoing Chairman, Edmund L. Jenkins, who will retire on June 30 upon completion of his five-year term. The appointment was announced by Manuel H. Johnson, Co-Chairman, Johnson Smick International and Chairman of the Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF), which appoints members of the FASB and the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB). Mr. Herz’s five-year term will commence on July 1.
Mr. Herz is currently PricewaterhouseCoopers North America Theater Leader of Professional, Technical, Risk & Quality and a member of the firm’s Global and U.S. Boards. He also serves as a part-time member of the International Accounting Standards Board. Mr. Herz is both a Certified Public Accountant and a Chartered Accountant.
In commenting on Mr. Herz’s appointment, Mr. Johnson stated, "Bob Herz will bring outstanding expertise to the FASB, and we are delighted to announce that he will join the Board as its Chairman. Bob is widely recognized in the U.S. and abroad for his strong technical background and grasp of complex accounting and financial reporting issues. His experience will be a tremendous asset to the FASB as standard setting faces tougher challenges in a changing marketplace."
A 48-year old native of New York City, Mr. Herz spent part of his early life in Argentina and England. He joined Price Waterhouse in 1974 upon graduating from the University of Manchester in England with a B.A. degree in economics. He later joined Coopers & Lybrand becoming its senior technical partner in 1996 and assumed a similar position with the merged firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers in 1998.
A veteran of 28 years in the accounting profession, Mr. Herz has served as audit partner for major clients in the financial services, manufacturing and telecommunications industries.
During his distinguished career, Mr. Herz has authored numerous publications on a variety of accounting, auditing and business subjects. Included among those contributions is the recent book, The Value Reporting Revolution: Moving Beyond the Earnings Game, which he co-authored.
Among Mr. Herz’s other activities, he chaired the AICPA SEC Regulations Committee and the Transnational Auditors Committee of the International Federation of Accountants, and served as a member of the Emerging Issues Task Force, the FASB Financial Instruments Task Force, the American Accounting Association’s Financial Accounting Standards Committee and the SEC Practice Section Executive Committee of the AICPA.
Mr. Jenkins, who will retire at the end of June, is the fourth Chairman in the FASB’s 29-year history. He joined the organization on July 1, 1997, after having retired as managing partner of Arthur Andersen’s Professional Standards Group LLP’s worldwide practice. "During his term as FASB Chairman, Ed Jenkins has made very important contributions to U.S. accounting standard setting. Through his work on derivatives and, most recently, business combinations, Ed’s leadership has provided investors with far better and more transparent financial information," noted Mr. Johnson.
About the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the Financial Accounting Foundation
Since 1973, the FASB has been the designated organization in the private sector for establishing standards of financial accounting and reporting. Those standards govern the preparation of financial reports and are officially recognized as authoritative by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Such standards are essential to the efficient functioning of the economy because investors, creditors, auditors and others rely heavily on credible, transparent and comparable financial information.
The Financial Accounting Foundation is responsible for funding, overseeing and selecting the members of the FASB and the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB). For more information on the organizations it oversees, visit the Foundation’s websites at www.fasb.org and www.gasb.org.