Barry C. Melancon, President and CEO of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), has been appointed to the U.S. Treasury Department's new Advisory Committee on the Auditing Profession.

"I am looking forward to working with Treasury to develop recommendations on all aspects of our profession, capital market competitiveness, and especially on attracting young people to accounting," Melancon said.

Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr. created the Audit Profession advisory panel after convening top U.S. business leaders including Melancon in Washington in March to address issues facing U.S. financial markets.

"We need to bring more young people into accounting to sustain a vigorous and vibrant profession in the future," Melancon said. In addition to human capital challenges, the new panel will look at competition and concentration in audit services, regulation and the profession's business model.

"The largest accounting firms are already serving the needs of investors in global capital markets, but this is a very diverse profession with broad capacity and talent that is open to opportunities," Melancon said.

"Clearly the capital markets of the world are moving toward harmonized international standards and it's important that our regulatory process matches that evolution," he said.

The Audit Profession panel will be co-chaired by former Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Arthur Levitt, Jr. and former SEC Chief Accountant Donald T. Nicolaisen. The panel's meetings will be public and the panel will make recommendations within one year.