Like all true Scots, Sir David Tweedie loves a good scrap. It was once said that "he would cross a motorway to pick a fight".
Right now he finds himself caught up in the Enron storm - as the chief advocate for international accounting standards - and is relishing the battles ahead.
On his office wall in London hangs a framed 1991 article from The Scotsman newspaper headlined "The most hated accountant in Britain?" As chairman of the International Accounting Standards Board, he may become the most hated accountant in the world.
The piece dates from his time as chairman of the UK's Accounting Standards Board, where he developed a reputation for outspokenness that should serve him well in his new global role. He forced through unpopular changes - opposed by auditors and companies - but his 10-year chairmanship of the ASB, which ended in 2000, is widely seen as restoring credibility to UK accounting standards.