Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson created the advisory panel after convening U.S. business leaders including Melancon in Washington in March to address issues facing U.S. financial markets. The full list of committee members, announced Oct. 2, is available at http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/hp585.htm

"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. "We need to bring more young people into accounting to sustain a vigorous and vibrant profession in the future."

In addition to human capital challenges, the new panelwill 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."

The panel will be co-chaired by former Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Arthur Levitt and former SEC Chief Accountant Donald Nicolaisen. The panel’s meetings will be public and it is to make recommendations within one year.