Many will not know the new informant Richard van Zwol. But he is a well-known name in accountancy. Van Zwol has been on the EY supervisory board since 2021 and has been its chairman for more than a year. He also advises the Council of State. When he spoke critically about the new accounting law, Richard van Zwol’s possible double hat was pointed out.
Van Zwol (59) has been a State Councilor and a member of the Advisory Division of the Council of State since October 1, 2017. From 2013 he was Secretary General of the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations. In the period 2007-2011 he held that position at the Ministry of General Affairs and in 2011-2013 at the Ministry of Finance. He was Sherpa of the Netherlands at the G20 in 2009/2010 and secretary of the cabinet formations in 2003 and 2006/2007. He was previously a civil servant at the Ministries of Finance, the Interior and Kingdom Relations and General Affairs. Van Zwol studied legal and administrative sciences at Tilburg University.
Double hat
Van Zwol will be a member of the EY supervisory board from January 2021. This occurred to him in December 2022 criticism of the Association of Securities Owners. The VEB doubted whether a critical advice from the Council of State on new accounting legislation had been drawn up independently: Van Zwol advises the Council of State (as council of state) and, as (then) vice-chairman of the supervisory board of EY, had a possible interest in case of (critical) advice on the current accounting law. At the public members’ meeting of the Dutch Professional Organization of Accountants, Gerben Everts of the VEB called it ‘destructive for the way we deal with integrity in the Netherlands.’
Change
A spokesperson for the Council of State said in a response that Van Zwol had remained aloof in the discussion about the advice on accounting legislation by formally withdrawing from the ‘deliberations and votes’. Van Zwol himself said: ‘At the Council of State and EY we have quite strict rules. And so you are not involved in the preparation and decision-making of topics that could affect you in another role.’ Everts did not think it made much difference whether someone formally apologized or not and that informal influence could take place anyway. ‘The mere fact that colleagues are familiar with the additional position will influence their views in practice, and enough practical research has been done into this.’
Informant
Together with SGP member Elbert Dijkgraaf, Van Zwol has been put forward as the new informant by PVV leader Geert Wilders. Van Zwol also has experience with this profession. In 1994 he helped Prime Minister Wim Kok to write the coalition agreement for Purple 1. As a civil servant at AZ, Van Zwol was formation secretary in the Balkenende II, III and IV cabinets. He had to keep the pace in the negotiations.
CDA
Van Zwol is a member of the CDA. The leader of that party in the House of Representatives, Henri Bontenbal, informed the NOS that he was only informed just before Van Zwol’s nomination. He is ‘disappointed’ by it and concludes that the forming parties, after informateurs Plasterk and Putters (both PvdA), apparently cannot supply their own people.
Temporarily resigned
When asked, EY stated that Van Zwol will temporarily step down as chairman and member of the supervisory board during the period in which he is (co-)informer of the cabinet formation. Vice-chairman Tanja Nagel replaces him as (acting) chairman.