* Hoogervorst chosen for diplomatic skills
* Hoogervorst stresses independence of standard setting
* Trustees see no change of policy
* EU's Barnier urges more progress on IASB governance reform
(Adds accounting industry, Hoogervorst comment)
By Huw Jones
LONDON, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Hans Hoogervorst, head of the Dutch markets regulator AFM, was named as the new chairman of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), marking a new emphasis on winning political support for its global rules.
Hoogervorst, a former Dutch government minister, will take up the full-time position for an initial five-year period after current chairman David Tweedie steps down in June 2011, the board's trustees said in a statement.
Ian Mackintosh, current head of the UK accounting standards board, has been appointed in the new post of vice-chairman.
The selection of another European to replace Tweedie will please European Union governments and lawmakers who have complained the IASB is not transparent or accountable enough in its workings.
Tweedie, a Scot and an accountant by training, has been chairman for 10 years -- effectively from the IASB's start -- and his sometimes feisty, technical approach has ruffled feathers of politicians in the EU and United States.
Mackintosh is a former chief accountant of the Australian Securities and Investment Commission and his appointment will help address concerns in Asia that the London-based IASB is too heavily influenced by Europe.
"The geographical span is broadened and I think this should be welcomed," said Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, who chairs the IASB's trustees.
"I don't expect a change of policy," Padoa-Schioppa told Reuters in a telephone interview from Seoul where the IASB's trustees voted unanimously for the changes.
Hoogervorst said investor protection, a single global set of accounting rules and independent standard-setting "will remain my priorities".
DIPLOMAT
The IASB has emerged as a powerful, global lawmaking body, its standards used in over 100 countries -- they are mandatory for the 8,000 listed companies in the European Union but not used in the United States.
The IASB is locked in talks with its U.S. counterpart, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), to converge their rules into a single set of global standards, as called for by the Group of 20 leading countries.
The U.S. Congress has been wary of adopting IASB rules, which would effectively give up sovereignty in standard-setting to a board seen as having been swayed by European influence, even though Congress forced FASB to make changes too.
The need to win over U.S. lawmakers to adopt IASB rules and to keep EU politicians fully on board is a task that now requires strong diplomatic skills.
Padoa-Schioppa said the new chair was chosen for his extensive global diplomatic and policymaking background -- Hoogervorst is not an accountant by training.
The role of overseeing the technical detail of IASB rules can then be left to Mackintosh, a veteran accountant, who can reassure the industry that rulemaking will independent.
"There is clearly a different profile for the new chairman," Padoa Schioppa said.
"He has a lot of diplomatic skills and the trustees felt this was the appropriate profile for the future chairman. He also has strong experience in investor protection practices which is one of the main concerns of the trustees," Padoa Schioppa said.
Michael Izza, chief executive of the ICAEW, an accounting industry body, said Hoogervorst's appointment heralds a new era for financial reporting and the board should continue to persuade the United States to adopt IASB rules.
"It is critical that Mr Hoogervorst engages with key IFRS stakeholders across the world at an early stage to understand their views and concerns," Izza said.
EU Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier said he looked forward to working with Hoogervorst to continue "strengthening the governance and accountability of the IASB".
The board has already begun reforming its fair value or mark-to-market rule which came under fire at the height of the financial crisis.
It forced banks to value assets at the depressed going rate, triggering firesales and heavy pressure from EU finance ministers and the European Commission to water it down.
But FASB has proposed extending the use of mark-to-market, helping to slow down convergence with IASB rules so that a June 2011 set by the G20 for reaching a full single set of global standards will now be missed by several months at least.
"Convergence is important but ultimately what really matters is adoption of IFRS by the United States... which is strongly backed by the G20," Padoa-Schioppa, a former Italian treasury minister, said.
(Reporting by Huw Jones, editing by Patrick Graham/Ruth Pitchford)