New IFRS Foundation strategy, refreshed leadership team
The IFRS Foundation Trustees have set out how they intend to run the organisation over the next five years, alongside a consultation on the governance changes needed to get there. A new operating and financing plan puts both the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) on what the Trustees describe as a path to long-term financial resilience, and the ISSB gains a new office in Geneva, opening in 2027, to serve as the board’s seat alongside its existing presence in Beijing, Frankfurt, Montreal and Tokyo.
The more detailed proposals sit in a parallel exposure draft on targeted amendments to the Foundation’s Constitution. Both boards are shrinking: the Trustees expect each to consist of 10 members from 2028, down from 14. The draft proposes a specified range of eight to 12 members for each board, a rebalanced geographical allocation of two members each from Asia-Oceania, Europe and the Americas plus one from Africa, and revised voting thresholds, with a simple majority plus one required to approve exposure drafts and standards. It also clarifies the duration of member terms and withdraws the temporary provisions that governed the ISSB in its start-up years.
For preparers and users, the voting and geographical changes are the ones to watch, since they shape how future accounting and sustainability standards get made and how broad a range of jurisdictions sits around the table when they do.
The consultation runs alongside a refreshed leadership team, with Steven Maijoor incoming as Chair of the IFRS Foundation Trustees, Sam Woods as the new Chair of the IASB and Laura Forzani as Managing Director.
- Steven Maijoor is an Executive Board Member at De Nederlandsche Bank and Chair of Supervision. He is also a member of the Supervisory Board of the European Central Bank (ECB). He is the immediate past Chair of ESMA. He will take on his new duties on 1 January 2027.
- Sam Woods will join the International Accounting Standards Board on 1 October 2027. For the last decade he has been the CEO of the UK’s Prudential Regulation Authority and Deputy Governor at the Bank of England.
- Laura Forzani has been appointed as the IFRS Foundation Managing Director and commenced her new role on 1 September. A former Partner and COO of KPMG UK she brings extensive experience in commercial and governance roles.
From XBRL International we extend hearty congratulations to all three on their appointments in these vital roles!
Comments on the exposure draft are due by 16 November 2026. Read more here.
