Global Leadership Award presented at World Congress of Accountants
Visionary French accountancy leader, Mr. René Ricol, was today awarded the international accountancy professions’ highest honor, the IFAC Global Leadership Award in Honor of Robert Sempier.
“René Ricol has served the global accountancy profession with distinction,” said IFAC’s immediate past President Rachel Grimes. “During his term as IFAC President, he was a passionate advocate for standard-setting in the public interest, initiating, with international regulators and standard setters, enhancements that led to the current arrangements for setting international audit and ethics standards and helping to create the shared public-private model we recognize and still strongly support today.”
Mr. Ricol is a Chartered accountant, financial expert, and former expert of the court of last resort (Cour de Cassation). He was recognized as Grand Officer of the National Order of Merit and Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor in July 2011. He also received the Grand Cross Medal of the National Order of Merit in 2014.
He joined IFAC’s Board in October 1997 and served as the IFAC President from November 2002 to November 2004. From 1994 to 1998, he was President of the Ordre des Experts Comptables and was President of the Compagnie Nationale des Commissaires aux Comptes from 1985 to 1989.
Since 1991, he has served as President of the Observatoire National des Petites et Moyennes Entreprises. He is one of the founders and primary movers of the “Tous Pour l’Emploi” movement, set up with the help of professional associations and organizations to help businesses create jobs.
In August 2005, the Prime Minister entrusted him with the mission to restructure the l'Agence Pour la Création d’Entreprises (APCE), where he led the adoption of a strategic plan and implementation of a new governance structure.
Mr. Ricol was also Chairman of “France Investissement” (France Investment) set up by the government in partnership with private investors to accelerate the development of capital investment in France and increase available funds for small and medium sized companies.
In 2008, he led the development of a report about the financial crisis for President Nicolas Sarkozy who subsequently said in an interview that all the decisions made by the G4, G5, G20 were proposed in this report. René Ricol was subsequently appointed as National Credit Mediator to support and help businesses facing financial issues.
As General Commissioner for Public Investment from 2010 until 2012, he was in charge of the management of 35 billion euro of investments for the development of a future-oriented French economy.
He initiated what would become the pact of responsibility and solidarity announced by François Hollande in December 2013.
In September 2014, René Ricol was entrusted by the French President François Hollande with a mission related to retirement savings’ mobilization to support French economy.
About the IFAC Global Leadership Award
Established in 2017 by the IFAC Board, the IFAC Global Leadership Award in Honor of Robert Sempier recognizes individuals who make outstanding contributions to the global accountancy profession. The award honors the contributions of Robert Sempier, IFAC’s first executive director and replaces two past IFAC Awards—the Robert Sempier Award (established in 1991) and the IFAC International Gold Service (IGS) Award (established in 2010).
About IFAC
IFAC is the global organization for the accountancy profession dedicated to serving the public interest by strengthening the profession and contributing to the development of strong international economies. IFAC is comprised of more than 175 members and associates in more than 130 countries and jurisdictions, representing almost 3 million accountants in public practice, education, government service, industry, and commerce.