IFAC taps IFRS Foundation’s Lee White as its next CEO

The International Federation of Accountants has appointed Lee White as its next CEO, succeeding Kevin Dancey in March. 

White is currently a managing director of the International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation, which oversees both the International Accounting Standards Board and, more recently, the International Sustainability Standards Board.

He previously spent nine years at Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, including six years as its CEO. During his tenure there, he shepherded the merger of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia with CAANZ. Earlier in his career, he was chief accountant of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, where he was involved in the creation of the International Forum of Independent Audit Regulators, whose members include the U.S. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.

Unlike Dancey, who was previously president and CEO of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants and was based at IFAC’s New York headquarters, White will be based in London when he begins his term in March.

“I am delighted with and humbled by the opportunity ahead,” White said in a statement Wednesday. “Engagement of the global accounting profession has never been more critical if society is to address many of the world’s most pressing economic and environmental issues. I look forward to leading our profession in a way that will continue to serve a vital public interest role, and also to raising awareness about the extraordinary opportunities available to accountants today.”

IFAC announced in May that it would begin to search for a new CEO to succeed Dancey, who has been at the helm since 2018 and announced in March his intention to step down at the end of 2023 (see story).   

“We are very fortunate to have secured a leader of Lee’s caliber to take IFAC on the next chapter of its journey, and I would like to thank IFAC’s CEO Search Committee for their efforts in identifying the best candidate for the role,” said IFAC president Asmâa Resmouki in a statement. “Lee’s deep knowledge of IFAC, his global business acumen and his commitment to the public interest promise to serve the profession, and indeed all of IFAC’s stakeholders, very well.”