A French lawyer and administrator who became a civil servant, Prada has held a number of senior positions in international finance. Before and since the IFRS Foundation was created, Michel has been sincerely committed to matters related to the establishment of the IFRS as the globally accepted high-quality set of accounting standards.
In the early 2000s up to his appointment in 2012 as Chairman of the International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation, Prada was Chairman of a number of other influential bodies including the French Securities Regulator, the Executive Committee of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and the Technical Committee. He was also Chairman of the Autorité des Marchés Financiers, which regulates the stock market. He held this post for twelve years in which time he was an outspoken advocate for investor protection and global standards.
Again in the early 2000s, Prada served on the initial Nominating Committee that selected the new body of Trustees overseeing the independent standard-setting process and was a leading proponent of European adoption of IFRSs. Prada was also a founding member of the Financial Stability Forum, the Forum of European Securities Commissions and the Committee of European Securities regulators.
Prada also served as Chairman of the Executive and Technical Committees of IOSCO and was a founding member of the Financial Stability Forum (now the Financial Stability Board). Following the accounting-related failures of Enron and WorldCom in the United States and of Parmalat in Europe, Mr Prada led a collaborative effort by members of the international financial regulatory community to establish the Public Interest Oversight Board of the International Federation of Accountants in 2005. Mr Prada also served as a member of the Financial Crisis Advisory Group, formed to advise the IASB and the US-based Financial Accounting Standards Board on their response to the financial crisis.
Michel is an engaging and coherent finance speaker, providing an interesting insight into the inner workings of European economics, whilst highlighting the roles of corporate business in sustainable economic growth.
