CEO, Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors South Africa (IRBA)
Bernard is currently in the position of Chief Executive Officer at the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors (IRBA), the statutory audit regulator in South Africa. Prior to that appointment, he was the Technical Director at the IRBA and largely responsible for audit and ethics standard setting for the profession in South Africa. During that period, he was instrumental in the adoption and implementation of the International Standards on Auditing (ISA) in South Africa and participated in the international standard setting activities of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) in his role as technical advisor to the South African member, as well as providing technical support on the redrafting of 3 of the ISAs for IFAC in terms of their 5 year Clarity Project.
Before joining the IRBA, he was the Project Director: Technical at the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) responsible for the public sector (accounting and auditing). During this period he was technical advisor to the South African member on the international public sector accounting standard setting body of IFAC.
Prior to joining SAICA, he headed up the technical department at the Office of the Auditor General, during which time he was responsible for harmonising the private and public sector auditing standards.
He started his career in the profession at one of the global networks.
He is currently the chairman of the Standards Coordination Working Group of IFIAR which has the responsibility of monitoring and commenting on developments in international standards on auditing and ethics, and engaging with the chairmen of the relevant boards and structures.
Bernard is a member of the King Committee for Corporate Governance.