Mary Pat McCarthy, KPMG LLP Vice Chair, has been named Executive Director of KPMG’s Audit Committee Institute (ACI).
KPMG, the audit, tax and advisory firm, created the Audit Committee Institute (ACI) in 1999 to serve as a resource for audit committee members and senior management. Its primary mission is to communicate with audit committee members and enhance their awareness, commitment, and ability to implement effective audit committee processes.
In her new role, McCarthy will be responsible for the development of ACI programs and thought leadership. She succeeds Edward F. Smith, a retired KPMG partner who has led ACI as interim executive director.
“Mary Pat assumes leadership of the ACI at a pivotal time in U.S. accounting with risk management currently at the top of many audit committee agendas and international standards playing a more influential role in financial reporting,” said Henry R. Keizer, Vice Chair, Audit, KPMG LLP, and Global Head of Audit, KPMG International. “Mary Pat will be able to draw on her considerable boardroom experience to help audit committees, boards, and senior management address key governance challenges, and consider leading oversight practices.”
“I am delighted to take on leadership of ACI at a time when audit committees will be looking for approaches to address critical challenges posed by their evolving role in the oversight of risk and ongoing regulatory developments, such as International Financial Reporting Standards,” said McCarthy.
McCarthy is a U.S. Vice Chair and Audit partner and was previously responsible for driving KPMG’s Client Care strategy until being named to her current role. She also previously served as Vice Chair for the firm’s Information, Communications and Entertainment line of business and for its Industries and Markets group. She joined KPMG in 1977 in the Minneapolis office, transferred to California’s Bay Area in 1984, and relocated to Kansas City in 2003 to serve as lead partner for a major client of the firm. She was admitted into the partnership in 1987. McCarthy is a co-author of five books covering a variety of business topics including risk management and strategies for building a global business.
