Hoogervorst re-appointed as IASB accounting standards body chairman [Reuters]
If becoming the chairman of the IASB is on your list of career goals, then you'll have to be patient. Hans Hoogervorst just got reappointed to his second five-year term after his first had mixed results:
Much of his first term was spent grappling with the aftermath of the global financial crisis which prompted world leaders to call for a fundamental change in how banks set aside capital to cover souring loans.
A key success has been getting a deal on reforming accounting rules for leases in the teeth of industry opposition.
But Hoogervorst has expressed disappointment that he has not been able to persuade the United States to adopt IASB rules to make them truly global.
I can't think of many jobs in the realm of accounting that would be more interesting than the chairman of the IASB. You travel the world, talk to people about how great IFRS is, bitch about Americans. But if getting the US to join the IFRS bandwagon is what keeps Hans up at night, he should keep plenty of Lunesta on hand, even with supporters sprinkled around.
In other accounting rulemaker reappointment news, two FASB members, Thomas Linsmeier and Daryl Buck, are stepping down this year.
SolarCity found a CFO
Continuing with more job fantasies: If becoming one of Elon Musk's financial minions is on your list of career goals, then you'll have to be patient. SolarCity disclosed yesterday that it found a CFO, Tanguy Serra. And his career experience reflects the whole "CFO is the new COO" (or whatever) trend we've heard about:
Mr. Serra, 37, joined SolarCity in May 2013 as Executive Vice President of Operations and was promoted to Chief Operations Officer in February 2014 and President in November 2015. Prior to joining SolarCity, Mr. Serra served as Chief Executive Officer and as a member of the board of directors of Vivint Solar, Inc., a solar energy solutions company, from April 2011 until April 2013, where he oversaw both finance and operations and was responsible for raising the company’s tax equity funds. Prior to his time at Vivint, from April 2004 until September 2011, Mr. Serra served as Vice President of TPG Capital, L.P., a private equity investment firm, where he managed a number of the firm’s investments. Prior to TPG Capital, Mr. Serra held financial analyst positions with Morgan Stanley Capital Partners and Merrill Lynch. Mr. Serra holds a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from ESCP Europe.
That's a pretty interesting career path for some with an accounting degree. I guess there's hope that you'll find yourself in Musk's ranks.
Mehllinneals
The raining hellfire of content around Millennials continues in the Harvard Business Review. Attracting Millennials. Motivating Millennials. Engaging Millennials. Understanding Millennials. Quitting Millennials. Maybe it's because I'm not old enough to look at people of a certain age and think, "Wow, they just don't get it," but what I definitely do not get is why the media feels like Millennials are so hard to understand.
Millennials are people. People are strange. People that are younger than you are stranger. Chris Hooper wrote about this a while back. You can understand them better by talking to them. Well, some of them. Some of them you can't. I think that's pretty universal. I guess what I'm saying is, don't listen to anyone who says they can help you understand a whole generation of people. And certainly don't pay them.
Previously, on Going Concern…
Megan Lewczyk wrote about internal controls on Office Space. In Open Items, someone wants to discuss a service line jump.
In other news:
- U.S. Treasury’s Lew Challenges EU on Corporate Tax Investigations
- "What kind of company wants to avoid tougher regulation? Fraudulent ones, too often I fear."
- Kanye's shoes are a good investment.
- Kanye's new album is not.
- Congressman vapes.
