Ontario Securities Commission Chairman David Brown has been appointed to a new international oversight board for the international accountancy profession.

The Public Interest Oversight Board (PIOB) will oversee the public interest activities of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) in setting audit performance standards, independence and other ethical standards, audit quality control standards and education standards.

PIOB will also oversee IFAC’s Member Body Compliance Program, which is designed to ensure that national accountancy bodies are meeting their obligations as members of IFAC.

“I am honoured to have been selected to be part of this important new initiative to ensure that the activities of the accounting profession properly reflect the interests of investors and the public,” said Brown, in a release. “In addition to contributing the experience I have gained here in Canada to the PIOB, I fully expect that this appointment will enable me to gain insights from the PIOB’s deliberations that will benefit our own oversight processes here in Canada.”

“The PIOB will help strengthen international auditing standards by injecting into IFAC’s standards-setting processes informed oversight that reflects the public interest,” Brown added.

Seven others were appointed to the Public Interest Oversight Board. They are:

  • . Stavros Thomadakis, chairman, Professor of Finance, University of Athens, Greece.
  • Aulana L. Peters, retired lawyer.
  • Antoine Bracchi, président, Conseil National de la Comptabilité, France.
  • Fayezul Choudhury, vp and Controller, The World Bank.
  • . Michael Hafeman, retired insurance supervisor.
  • Kosuke Nakahira, vice chairman, Institute for International Economic Studies.
  • Arnold Schilder, executive director, De Nederlandsche Bank NV, Netherlands.

Members of the PIOB were appointed by the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS), the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) and the World Bank. The PIOB held its inaugural meeting in Paris earlier this week.

Brown ends a seven-year term as chairman of the OSC on June 30. His appointment to the PIOB is for a three-year term.