FASB - Financial Accounting Standards Board

is to establish and improve standards of financial accounting and reporting for the guidance and education of the public, including issuers, auditors, and users of financial information.

a. Robert Herz - Prior to joining the FASB, Mr. Herz joined Price Waterhouse in 1974 upon graduating from the University of Manchester in England with a B.A. degree in economics. He later joined Coopers & Lybrand and became senior technical partner in 1996. Then he assumed a similar position with the merged firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers in 1998. He also chaired the AICPA SEC Regulations Committee and the Transnational Auditors Committee of the International Federation of Accountants. He served on other boards such as the Emerging Issues Task Force (EITF), the FASB Financial Instruments Task Force, the American Accounting Association’s Financial Accounting Standards Committee, the SEC Practice Section Executive Committee of the AICPA, and the International Capital Markets Advisory Committee of the New York Stock Exchange.

b. Thomas J. Linsmeier became a member of the FASB in July of 2006. Before joining the FASB, Mr. Linsmeier was a Russell E. Palmer Endowed Professor and Chairperson of the Department of Accounting and Information Systems at Michigan State University. He also has served as academic fellow and special consultant to the Office of the Chief Accountant at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). He held professional appointments at the University of Iowa and the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. In Dr. Linsmeier’s research, he has explored the role of accounting information in securities markets and his work has been published. Dr. Linsmeier has served as chairman of the Financial Accounting Standards Committee and president of the Financial Accounting and Reporting section of the American Accounting Association.

c. Leslie F. Seidman was appointed to the FASB in July of 2003. Prior to joining the FASB, she managed her own firm. She was also vice president of accounting policy at J.P. Morgan & Company. Initially she was an auditor in the New York office of Arthur Young & Company, which is now Ernst & Young LLP and is a CPA. Ms. Seidman obtained an M.S. degree in accounting from New York University and a B.A. degree in English from Colgate University.

d. Marc A. Siegel was appointed to the FASB in October of 2008. Mr. Siegel has 17 years of experience in diverse and global industries. He led the Accounting Research and Analysis team at the RiskMetrics Group in Rockville, Maryland. He is an expert in forensic accounting. Mr. Siegel was the director of research at the Center for Financial Research & Analysis (CFRA) and is a member of the New York State Society of CPAs (NYSSCPA).

e. Lawrence W. Smith was appointed to the (FASB) in July of 2007. Mr. Smith was FASB director–technical application and implementation activities prior to his appointment as well as a partner with KPMG for 25 years. He served as engagement partner and SEC reviewing partner for international Fortune 1000 clients. Mr. Smith is a CPA and has a master of science degree in accounting.

Topics are added to the FASB's technical agenda through requests by all interested parties including investors and the SEC. Also, through observation and research, the FASB is able to identify topics that need addressing. The Board then seeks information and input from other organizations and groups. Once all this information is taken into careful consideration, the chairman then decides what projects to add to the Board’s technical agenda.

Since June of 1974, the FASB has issued 168 standards. The most recent one, issued in June of 2009, isThe FASB Accounting Standards Codification^TM and the Hierarchy of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles—a replacement of FASB Statement No. 162.

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