Personal Reflections on Ten Years of the IASB

The International Accounting Standard Board's first 10 years were, in many ways, tumultuous. Established initially as a type of accounting ‘think tank’ with a mandate to develop high‐quality accounting standards that could be adopted on a voluntary basis by countries around the world, it soon gained an international constituency that thrust it into the hurly burly of international accounting standard setting. Before it knew it, the Board was faced with not only resolving challenging technical issues but also dealing with the politics and other pressures that accompany attempts to change accounting practices in highly controversial areas. This article is a personal reflection on the Board's journey from its inception in 2001 until 2011, when the last of the initial board appointees, including the author, retired from the Board. The article indentifies and discusses some of the critical events that took place, including the impact of some of the events on the people directly involved.