Helene Agélii

Helene Agélii is the incoming Chair of the IFAC Small- and Medium-Sized Practices Advisory Group (SMPAG).

Ms. Agélii serves concurrently as the Secretary General and CEO of the Nordic Federation of Public Accountants (NRF). She has expanded the collaboration between the CEOs of the Nordic professional accountancy organizations (PAOs) beyond information sharing to include cooperation across many fields, such as audit, assurance, sustainability, ethics, technology, and the attractiveness of the profession. This collaboration also extends beyond public policy matters to include organizational concerns and activities of the Nordic PAOs. She was a strong advocate for the development of an international auditing standard suitable for smaller and less complex entities—a need that was subsequently recognized and addressed by the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB).

Ms. Agélii has served in many volunteer capacities at the global level. She has been a Technical Advisor to the SMPAG since 2019. She has also served as a Technical Advisor to the IFAC Board (2019-2024) and the IAASB (2019-2024), and as a Member of the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA) (2012-2017). Since 2019, she has also served as a member of IFAC's Public Policy and Regulation Advisory Group (PPRAG) and as an NRF Observer at Edinburgh Group meetings. Ms. Agélii has also served as a Technical Advisor to the board of Accountancy Europe since 2019.

Between 2011 and 2018, Ms. Agélii was General Counsel at the Swedish Institute for the Accountancy Profession (FAR). In this capacity, much of her work focused on legislative issues and lobbying activities. During her employment with FAR, Ms. Agélii was appointed as an advisory expert by the Swedish Governmental Committee, assigned to implement the 2014 EU Audit Reform. Ms. Agélii was also served as Head of Division at FAR AB, dealing with political, regulatory, and professional practice issues for FAR's members.

Prior to her employment at FAR, Ms. Agélii was employed by the Swedish Inspectorate of Auditors, dealing with disciplinary and professional practice matters. She was also secretary to the government committee, assigned to implement the 2006 EU Audit Directive. This committee was also instrumental in providing the legislative proposals with regard to abolishing the mandatory statutory audit for small companies in Sweden.

Ms. Agélii is a lawyer by profession and has a background within the Swedish judicial system. Earlier in her career, she was appointed as an associate judge at one of the Swedish administrative appeal courts. Prior to this, she had five years of judicial training at various courts.

Ms. Agélii graduated from Uppsala University in 1996.