Second Informal Meeting
16 November 1999
Outcomes of meeting held at Level 40, 242 Exhibition Street, Melbourne on 16 November 1999.
Attendance
Members:
Mr Paul Rizzo (Chairman)
Ms Elizabeth Alexander, AM
Mr David Edwards (as informal alternate to Mr McGregor)
Mr Leigh Hall, AM
Mr David Jackson
Mr Jeffrey Lucy
Mr Charles Macek
Ms Jan McCahey
Mr Philip Mussared (as informal alternate to Mr Challen)
Mr Gary Potts
Mr Michael Ullmer
Dr Diana Wright
FRC secretariat:
Mr Michael Kooymans
Ms Veronique Ingram
Apologies:
Mr Challen, Mr McGregor and Mr Nottle.
Adoption of agenda
Confirmation of minutes of previous meeting
The minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 25 October 1999 were confirmed without amendment.
Agenda item 1: Appointments to the Australian Accounting Standards Board
The Council considered nominations provided by stakeholder organisations for appointment to the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) and agreed to offer appointments to:
Corporates
- Mr Gregory Ward, Chief Financial Officer, Macquarie Bank, Sydney;
- Mr Peter Batten, Group Accounting Adviser, WMC Limited, Melbourne;
Practitioners
- Ms Brigid Curran, Partner, Assurance and Business Advisory Services, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Melbourne;
- Ms Ruth Picker, Partner, National Accounting and Auditing Standards, Ernst and Young, Melbourne;
Academia
- Professor Graham Peirson, Monash University, Melbourne;
Public sector
- Mr Ian Mackintosh, Consultant (and Chairman of the Public Sector Accounting Standards Board), Sydney;
- Mr George Carter, Special Adviser, Department of Finance and Administration, Canberra.
The Council also agreed that a committee of the Council comprising the Chairman, Mr Lucy, Mr Potts and Mr Ullmer - with input from other members of the Council nominated by `user' groups - would select (via phone hook-up) an additional member with a `user' perspective.
In addition, the Council agreed to the appointment of the following nominees in the event that an appointee in the designated category declined the offer of appointment:
It was agreed that the secretariat would determine the availability of those selected for appointment and obtain appropriate declarations of interest.
The Council noted advice from the secretariat that:
- the Commonwealth would run an advertisement in major newspapers over the period 19-21 November calling for expressions of interest in the position of Chair of the AASB; and
- the Treasurer had agreed that the names produced by the advertisement would be provided to the Chairman to enable the Council to consider whether it wished to recommend a name or names for the Treasurer's consideration. The Chairman advised the Council that Mr Ken Spencer had indicated that he would be available, if required, as a full-time interim Chair for a period of about six months.
Agenda item 2: Other business
The secretariat outlined an offer by the Australian Stock Exchange for an in-kind contribution to funding of the standard setting arrangements comprising office accommodation for the AASB secretariat in the Australian Stock Exchange building in Melbourne, and common use of boardroom and other facilities, for a period of five years at no cost. The Council expressed in principle support for the offer which will be formalised by an exchange of letters between Mr Nottle and the Chairman.
The Council briefly discussed the question of funding of the new standard setting arrangements and agreed to meet again in December 1999 to discuss the matter further on the basis of a secretariat paper setting out indications to be provided by stakeholders of the level of their financial support and exploring potential `gap-filling' mechanisms.
The secretariat circulated a schedule of proposed forward meeting dates for the Council to the end of 2000 and asked that members indicate by 30 November 1999 if any of the proposed dates were unsuitable.
1 Name deleted from published version of minutes for privacy reasons.
2 Name deleted from published version of minutes for privacy reasons.