About the authors

Kurt P. Ramin

Kurt Ramin is a former director at AccountAbility where he was Global Head of Standards. He is a visionary in the accounting profession and a pioneer in global reporting languages and standards, having previously been a director and advisor to the International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation at the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) in London for more than 10 years. His work on behalf of the IASB involved introducing XBRL and IFRS to more than 70 countries. During his tenure with the IASB he served as the global chairman of XBRL and was a member of the EU Commission High Level Expert Group and the Brookings Institution Task Force on Intangibles.

Prior to joining the IFRS Foundation and its predecessor, the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC), Kurt was a Global Capital Markets Group Partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers in New York. He holds an MBA, as well as CPA and CEBS qualifications, and is a board member of several international organisations. Earlier in his career he was CFO at several large international companies.

He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), as well as of the Financial Executives International (FEI) and other professional associations. Also, he is an honorary member of the German CPA Society. At the FEI he is a member of the Committee on Governance, Risk and Compliance (CGRC).

An accomplished writer and public speaker, Kurt has authored numerous articles on international financial reporting, XBRL and capital markets, and chaired global business conferences and summits. Presently, he is an editorial advisory board member of the Journal of Intellectual Capital (JIC). He has also lectured at Columbia University, and was a professor at the College of Insurance in New York.

Kurt currently serves as treasurer on the Council of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the world's largest association of conservation agencies, headquartered in Switzerland.

Outside of work, Kurt likes biking, skiing and engaging with friends around the globe. In 2009 he cycled on a 4,000 km goodwill tour from Rome to Mecca. He is fluent in German and English.

Kurt can be contacted at: [email protected].

Cornelis A. Reiman

Cornelis applies international start-up, turnaround and business development skills as a board-level advisor. Previously, Cornelis was president of an economic development entity promoting International Financial Reporting Standards in developing countries. Before that, he was dean and vice president of universities in Thailand and Singapore. Both were pivotal roles in the establishment of two business schools and related MBA programmes.

Cornelis has taught postgraduate international business, management and economics at Monash University in Australia. Prior to academia, he consulted in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors on critical issues, such as corporate management, strategic planning, regional economic development and business incubation. The global information technology provider IBM, and the former accounting services firm of Arthur Andersen & Co., have also employed him.

Cornelis has a PhD. in Economics and enjoys a number of exceptional professional qualifications in accounting, corporate governance, marketing and management, including FCPA (Australia and Singapore), FCIS and chartered accountant. He is also a senior member and certified professional with the Australian Computer Society. Furthermore, he is a former state president of the Economic Society of Australia, and former chairman of an employment development and recycling entity.

Presently, Cornelis is on the board of the Australian Institute of Management Business School and is also an independent director on the board of the Chamber of Accountants of the Republic of Kazakhstan, which became an Associate Member of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) in late 2011. In addition, he advises CPA Russia.

Cornelis has written on a number of international business issues, including accounting, trade, IT and organisational efficiency. Currently, he is a member of the advisory board, Journal of Management, Shinawatra University Thailand

Cornelis can be contacted at: [email protected].