French president Francois Holland has proposed Mazars chairman Patrick de Cambourg for the presidency of the French accounting standard setter authority, Autorité des normes comptables (ANC).

De Cambourg still needs to be approved by the two chambers of the French Parliament in order to be appointed. To that effect he will be auditioned on Wednesday 18 February by the commission of finance of the National Assembly (in the morning) and by the commission of finance of the Senate (in the afternoon).

After each session, members of the two chambers will be invited to vote in favour or against the appointment. The counting of both votes will be done simultaneously.

If appointed, De Cambourg will succeed Jérôme Haas who died of cancer in May of last year. Haas had been a leading voice in France against IFRS. De Cambourg’s appointment could mark a clear change of tone in the French standard-setting activity.

De Cambourg started his career at Mazars in 1974. He then served as president and CEO between 1995 and 2011, a period in which he helped the international network to become fully compliant with IFRS. Since 2012 he has been Mazars chairman, and since 2014 honorary chairman.

According to the latest International Accounting Bulletin World Survey, in 2014 Mazars is the 15th largest network globally with reported fee income of $1.5bn, up 6% from the previous year.

De Cambourg featured in IAB and The Accountant’s Global Accountancy Power 50 list of 2013.

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2013 Global Accountancy Power 50