James Schnurr, recently retired from Deloitte LLP, will replace Paul Beswick as the SEC’s chief accountant, the agency announced in a news release. Schnurr, who will begin his new job in October, was vice chairman and senior professional practice director, specializing in financial and SEC reporting for public companies at Deloitte.

Stance on BV? The business valuation community had been slammed by Beswick, who made a public call for unifying the BV profession under a single set of standards and credentials. Schnurr’s position on this issue remains to be seen.

One main issue facing Schnurr is whether to give U.S. public companies an option to use IFRS for financial reporting. His opinion on this is not clear, but the Journal of Accountancy reports that in 2007 Schnurr commented on the issue during an appearance at an SEC roundtable meeting. He said that having some issuers reporting in IFRS and others using U.S. GAAP would have “a positive impact to a neutral impact” on U.S. markets.