Robert Mul (1963) is Executive Director and manages the department Profession & Society (public trust) at the Royal NBA: The Netherlands Institute of Chartered Accountants. With a staff of sixteen; the department supports more than twenty five NBA-committee’s varying from Banking to Housing associations, SMP’s, Sustainability, Fraud and Accountech. Mul personally runs the policy program ‘Sharing Knowledge’ which brings together auditors and stakeholders in economic sectors to produce so called Public Management Letters[1] (audit insights). He also represents the NBA in nationwide consultations especially regarding healthcare, public sector and Tax. And internationally at the European professional accountancy organizations and at IFAC. Mul and his wife live, and raised their three children, in Rotterdam.

Before joining the NBA in 2009, Mul was elected by the city council of Rotterdam to hold  public office as Director of the Audit Office Rotterdam in 1998, and was re-elected in 2004.  The office published reports on operational and performance audits and reviews of the financial audits as performed by the city’s audit department and a private audit firm. Formerly, Mul hold several positions at the national audit office of the Netherlands. In 1988 he graduated in political science (with honours) at the University of Amsterdam. In 1996, he received a post-academic master degree at the Netherlands School of Public Administration.  

In 2002, Mul was a co-founder and became the first president of the Dutch Society of Public Audit Offices & Public Audit Committee’s (NVRR). At his resign in 2007 he was awarded the Honorary Chair-medal. In 2003 he became vice-president of the Committee Follow-up audit Accountability which was appointed by the State Secretary for Education Mark Rutte to investigate allegations of fraud at each of the 152 institutes of vocational and higher education in the Netherlands. During 2004, he was a member of the independent guidance committee which oversaw the evaluation by the Ministry of Finance of the central government system for results oriented budgeting. Over the years, Mul published or co-published several articles and a book in English including:

• ‘Sharing knowledge: public management letters, a new way to fulfil the public role of accountants’ (WCOA, Rome, November 2014)   
• ‘Local government audit in the Netherlands’ In: Regional public sector audit institutions in Europe, a comparative study (EURORAI, 2004).
•  ‘Performance or compliance? Performance audit and public management in five countries’ (Oxford University Press, 1999).  

As the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB) develops our first Sustainability Reporting Standard (IPSASB SRS^TM), we recognize its principles and concepts must be practicable and implementable so public sector entities can effectively determine and report on their contributions to address the global climate emergency.

Jan Jaap Boontjes is Manager International Affairs and Strategic Advisor at the Royal Netherlands Institute of Chartered Accountants (NBA). He has extensive experience in representing the interests of the profession to a broad range of stakeholders, both nationally and internationally.

He joined the NBA in 2016 as Manager Public Affairs. From 2020 to 2022, he worked for the Dutch Ministry of Finance as a senior policy advisor, where he was involved in audit reform legislation and served as secretary to the 'Quartermasters for the Future of the Accountancy Sector.'

Dr. Ahmad Almeghames serves as Chief Executive Officer of the Saudi Organization for Chartered and Professional Accountants (SOCPA) since 2006. With more than 25 years of experience in accounting, auditing, and professional regulation, he has been playing a key role in advancing the accounting profession in Saudi Arabia and across the region.

He holds a Ph.D. in Accounting from Mississippi State University, United States, and began his career in academia at King Saud University before assuming leadership roles at SOCPA. Under his leadership, SOCPA has strengthened its position as a leading voice in global accounting reform and innovation.

Internationally, Dr. Almeghames is a Board Member of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and Chair of the Regional Partnership for promotion of Sustainability Reporting under UNCTAD-ISAR. He also represents Saudi Arabia in the United Nations Intergovernmental Working Group of Experts on International Standards of Accounting and Reporting.

Throughout his career, Dr. Almeghames has contributed significantly to the development of international best practices in financial reporting, quality assurance, and sustainability. His leadership has been recognized globally, including receiving the ICAEW Award for outstanding contribution to the profession.

Mr. Lei Yan joined the IFAC Board in November 2024. He was nominated by Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountant (CICPA).

Mr. Lei Yan is currently the leading Partner of Assurance and International Business in Baker Tilly China. He has extensive experience in auditing and consulting of large scale international operation company and IPO auditing in the Chinese capital market.

Mr. Lei Yan is a member of the SME Implementation Group of IFRS and HR development committee of CICPA to focus on the training of the talent in the industry. He is a Chinese certified public accountant.

Mr. Lei Yan received his bachelor's degree in accounting from North China Electric Power University and Master's degree in business management from Central University of Finance and Economics.

Mark Vaessen joined the IFAC Board in November 2024 after being nominated by the Royal Nederlandse Beroepsorganisatie van Accountants (The Royal Netherlands Institute of Chartered Accountants).

Mr. Vaessen is a senior partner with KPMG in the Netherlands and the Global Head of Corporate & Sustainability Reporting for KPMG internationally. In that capacity he maintains the relationship with the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and is a member of the Integrated Reporting and Connectivity Council, an advisory body to both the ISSB and IASB.

In addition, Mr. Vaessen is currently the President of Accountancy Europe, a Brussels-based organization representing nearly one million professional accountants from across Europe. He previously also was a board member at the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB).

Mr. Vaessen has been a partner in KPMG’s global audit practice since 1999. He lived and worked in London for nearly 20 years, building and leading KPMG’s global international standards network as global IFRS leader. In 2017, he returned to his native the Netherlands where he was Head of Professional Practice until the end of 2022.

Michael Niehues was elected to the IFAC Board in November 2024, jointly nominated by the Institut der Wirtschaftsprüfer (IDW) and the Wirtschaftsprüferkammer (WPK).

Mr. Niehues is currently a member of the WPK’s Board (since 2014) and of the IDW’s working group on audit and professional ethics regulation. He chaired Accountancy Europe’s Ethics & Professional Competencies Working Party (2007 to 2020), served as member of the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (2006 to 2011), and as National Expert to the European Commission (1999 to 2001) he worked on audit regulation and auditor independence.

Mr. Niehues is a partner at Deloitte Germany, a German certified tax advisor, and German certified public accountant. In 1989 he started his career with Deloitte Germany where he gained experience in auditing large multinational companies, corporate restructuring, and forensic services. He served as the firm’s Director of Independence and regulatory contact (2001 to 2020) before he joined its executive leadership as Chief Risk Officer (2020-2024).

Mr. Niehues holds a Diplom (MBA equivalent) in business administration from Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg.