Who'll pick up the Tweedie mantle

There seems to be a whiff of reluctance in this country to put up a candidate to replace David Tweedie.

Ever since Brian Nicholson sent round a letter to audit firms and professional bodies the question has been will we or won’t we. The IASB would have to be mad to consider another UK citizen, despite Tweedie’s success (so far), but in the process will some high quality candidates be over looked.
The IASB of course, say no. But it seems a remote possibility to replace Tweedie, so disliked by some European quarters, with, well, another Tweedie-esque subject.

The IASB is the first to complain about political pressure, so lets hope it doesn’t take political considerations into account when making this pivotal decision. The ICAEW has thrown a few names in the hat and we know there is “a list” circulating in the depths of the IASB’s Cannon Street headquarters. Recruiters Spencer Stuart remain professionally tight lipped on the subject. they won’t even confirm they are looking.

There’s speculation the new Tweedie may come from Asia, with some suggesting it might come from Korea of Japan. Others feel it might be an Australian import (I’ll declare here that I’m an Aussie myself). The country, after all, was the first to adopt IFRS, and is always among the loudest voices in accounting debates.

Some notable conspiracy theorists are even speculating the honourable Robert Herz might throw his hat in the ring (even though he doesn’t step down from FASB until a year following) and this might seal the convergence deal. My conversation with him about six months back, at PwC’s meet the experts event seemed to suggest it was the furthest thing from his mind – His answer was something like “I’ve got bigger things to worry about”.

So he does, but then again, he didn’t really answer the question.