FRC denies lost status of ASB head

The search for a replacement for ASB chairman Mary Keegan, who leaves in July to take a senior position at the Treasury, has begun with advertisements for the job placed in newspapers.

But the position advertised has been on a three-day a week basis, while Keegan currently works full time.

‘The reason the role is going to three days a week is because the nature of the role is changing,’ said Sir Bryan Nicholson, chairman of the FRC. ‘When David Tweedie did it, he was brought in on a full-time basis to reform the crises of the late eighties. That work is behind us. The work going forward is not quite the same.’ The agenda of the ASB, as far as the development of standards is concerned, is now set by the International Accounting Standards Board, with UK GAAP converging with international accounting standards.

But Sir Bryan denied there would be any difficulty finding someone of sufficient calibre to fill the role, despite changes to the position.

The FRC was eager to point out that the budget and resources of the ASB would remain the same, and with the chairmanås position going part-time, it may be able to allocate greater resources to other areas of worth.

It added that the ASB was still involved in very important domestic projects, such as the investigation into life assurance accounting and work on the operating and financial review.