Russell Golden has been appointed chairman of the US Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) by the Financial Accounting Foundation trustees.

Golden’s appointment comes at a pivotal time in the FASB’s joint convergence project with the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) where there is continued top level pressure to reach agreements on certain contentious standards such as revenue recognition and leasing.

In recent months, it was clear that the two standard setters had begun to diverge on their decisions leading to calls from, most recently, the G20 to step up their convergence efforts and finish the remaining projects by the end of 2013 to push towards a single set of high quality global accounting standards.

Controversially, this month Seidman used her deciding vote to push the US GAAP leases exposure draft through, which aligns more with the IASB’s own draft issued last year.

IASB chairman Hans Hoogervorst called Golden an "excellent choice" to serve as FASB chairman.

"He commands great respect among all of our Board members. I would also like to place on record my thanks to Leslie Seidman and wish her well in the future," Hoogervorst added.

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Deep technical knowledge
Golden, who will take over from outgoing chairman Leslie Seidman on 1 July, has been a FASB board member since 2010 and brings a deep technical accounting knowledge to the role after working for six years in various staff positions at the standard setter, including technical director.

In his role as technical director he was in charge of overseeing work on standards-level projects, including both major projects and technical application and implementation activities. Golden also chaired the FASB’s Emerging Issues Task Force.

Center for Audit Quality executive director Cindy Fornelli said Golden has an "ideal combination of technical knowledge and perspective on the big picture to serve investors and the public interest".

Prior to joining the FASB, Golden was a partner at Deloitte US in the national office accounting services department. In this role, he was responsible for providing timely and accurate accounting consultations to partners and clients throughout the US and globally.