Business Credit articles from May 2005

Business Credit archives from May 2005

Passports required for Americans re-entering U.S.(front page)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Until now, Americans returning home from Canada have only needed to show a driver's License or other government-issued photo ID. However, Americans will need passports to re-enter the United States from Canada, Mexico, Panama and Bermuda by...

Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts gets bankruptcy reorganization.(front page)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts has won court approval to emerge from bankruptcy. The reorganization will require a bonds-for-equity swap under which Trump will surrender majority control but retain the titles of Chairman and Chief Executive...

New Kentucky bankruptcy law provides homestead exemption.(front page)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... A change in Kentucky's bankruptcy law could help some of the state's poor, unemployed and disabled save their homes if their debts cause them to file for bankruptcy. Legislation passed in the recent session of the Kentucky General Assembly will...

HealthSouth sues Ernst & Young.(front page)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... HealthSouth Corp. has filed suit accusing its former outside auditor, Ernst & Young, of intentionally or negligently failing to uncover a massive accounting fraud. The suit filed is an answer to Ernst & Young's recently filed suit against...

Surge of imported Chinese textiles and clothing bring investigation.(front page)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... The United States will bring trade cases against China to determine whether quotas should be reimposed to protect textile and clothing manufacturers against a surge in Chinese imports, after a global quota system that had limited the amount of...

Queen Mary operator files for bankruptcy.(front page)(Queen's Seaport Development Inc.)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... The operator of the Queen Mary, the historic ocean liner-turned-tourist attraction, has filed for bankruptcy, blaming Long Beach officials for failed negotiations that sought to resolve the city's demands for $3.4 million in back rent. Queen's...

May / June.(Brief Article)(Calendar)
May 1, 2005... May 2, 2005 Teleconference: Performance Metrics Presenter: Susan Delloiacono, CCE For more information, please contact the NACM Meetings Dept. at 410.740.5560. May 2-July 15, 2005 Online Business Law Course For more...

Spring rituals and self-renewal.(COMMENTARY)(management of professional development)
May 1, 2005... Spring. For each of us this word brings many thoughts to mind. Spring forward, means changing your clocks. Each spring and fall I remind myself I have too many toys as I change the clock on multiple TVs, VCRs, DVD players, cars, appliances,...

Getting the most out of a professional conference.(REQUIRED READING)
May 1, 2005... Overview This article describes specific strategies you can use before, during and after conferences and expositions to get the most from your time investment. The techniques are organized around the three most common reasons for going to...

Critical vendor orders after Kmart: a new lease on life.(CREDIT COLUMN)(Kmart Holding Corp.)(Column)
May 1, 2005... In the Kmart case, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals rejected any preferred treatment for some 2,300 "critical vendors" with pre-petition unsecured claims exceeding 300 million. The Seventh Circuit had ruled that the bankruptcy court lacked...

Weathering the storm of unforeseeable bad-debt losses.(SELECTED TOPIC)
May 1, 2005... In accounts receivable management, credit executives must constantly evaluate the risk versus reward of extending credit to any given company. The sales department sees dollar signs when a large prospective customer wants to do business, but...

2005 national certification test dates.(SELECTED TOPIC)
May 1, 2005... Sunday, June 12 Credit Congress Test Date Monday, July 25 Application and appropriate paperwork is due on or before June 20. Monday, November 7 Application and appropriate paperwork is due on or before September 26.

Smart startups don't wait to set up accounting systems.(HEADLINE)
May 1, 2005... The question of when to set up management control systems, such as financial planning and monitoring tools, haunts most entrepreneurs involved in startup operations. Until recently, there was little research on the topic, but a new study by...

Corporate executives and auditors try on SOX.(Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002)
May 1, 2005... The passage of the groundbreaking Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (Sarbanes-Oxley or SOX) is bringing about a sea change in corporate governance in the United States. As the first deadline for filing SOX Section 404, certifications and compliance...

NACM Credit Manager's Index: report for March 2005.(CREDIT MANAGER'S INDEX)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... As the first quarter of 2005 came to an end, growth in both the manufacturing and service sectors pushed NACM's Credit Manager's Index (CMI) higher, finishing up 280 basis points, from 55.6 percent to 58.4 percent. This was the third...

Preference decisions by the circuit: courts divided.
May 1, 2005... Every credit executive is familiar with the expression "ordinary course of business". Most credit executives can analyze a preference defense based on "new value" as well as most bankruptcy practitioners. Knowledge of the two-year statute of...

Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005: significant business bankruptcy changes in store for trade creditors.
May 1, 2005... The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 was recently passed, by the United States Congress and signed into law by President Bush. This legislation contains the most significant changes to federal bankruptcy law since...

So you've been handed a bankruptcy creditor claim ... now what?(SELECTED TOPIC)(management of credit managers)
May 1, 2005... AS A CREDIT MANAGER, IT'S NEARLY INEVITABLE THAT YOU'LL BE FACED WITH A CREDIT 'GONE BAD' AT SOME POINT IN YOUR CAREER. YET, NO MATTER HOW EXPERIENCED YOU MAY BE AT DEALING WITH THEM, BANKRUPTCY CREDITOR CLAIMS PRESENT A MYRIAD OF EVALUATION...

Must the new value be fresh?(CREDIT COLUMN)(Bankruptcy law)
May 1, 2005... Several courts have addressed the issue of whether new value under bankruptcy preference section 547(c)(4) must be unpaid for the vendor to be credited with this defense. (1) A twist on this issue is whether the new value supplied by the...

APG takes action to prosecute individuals for alleged theft.(SELECTED TOPIC)(Asset Protection Group )
May 1, 2005... The Asset Protection Group (APG) of NACM sprung into action earlier this year to start the process for the possible prosecution and conviction of two individuals involved in an alleged theft case against a Maryland wholesale distributor. APG's...

Are traditional bureau risk scores appropriate for the Basel II Accord?(INTERNATIONAL SECTION)(Accord on the International Convergence of Capital Measurement and Capital Standards, 2001)
May 1, 2005... As banks prepare to satisfy the Basel II Accord requirements, many issues need to be addressed, including the creation of internally calculated estimates for Probability of Default (PD). Currently in the United States, only a limited number...

India fast becoming an economic super power.(INTERNATIONAL SECTION)
May 1, 2005... New parts of the world that were not long ago considered undeveloped, backwater countries, are now taking center stage in the global economy. Much has been publicized about the ascendance of China's economy, as it has become a major venue for...

Hot spots: Mexico.(INTERNATIONAL SECTION)
May 1, 2005... The economy is now doing quite well, and the reason for the improved performance is no longer just the pull from the United States. At long last, after years during which politicians, from the President down, attacked the private banks for...

CEO skill and excessive pay: a breakdown in corporate governance?(HEADLINE)(chief executive officer)
May 1, 2005... What do Disney, AT&T, Exxon and Verizon have in common? Based on economic performance and what they pan their CEOs from 1991-2002, a new academic study argues that all these firms were headed by CEOs who were paid too much. These firms,...

Rising interest rates and the impact on accounts receivable.(SELECTED TOPIC)
May 1, 2005... After aggressive rate cuts in the 2001-2003 timeframe, the Federal Reserve is changing I gears and is working toward moving rates back up to more consistent levels with our economic landscape. In this vein, on March 22, 2005, the Federal...

Benchmarking excellence--effective implementation drives real returns.(HEADLINE)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... For more than a decade benchmarking has consistently ranked as one of the most broadly embraced management tools in use throughout the global economy. Yet according to Chris Bogan, CEO and President of Best Practices, LLC, "As with any business...

Businesses pay $447 billion in state and local taxes.(HEADLINE)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... State and local taxes imposed on businesses exceeded $447 billion in FY2004--nearly 10 percent higher than in FY2003--according to a new study released by the Council On State Taxation (COST). The study, which shows that businesses pay 43...

From Tacos to credit management consultant--price learned the ropes.(MEMBER PROFILE)(Kym Price)
May 1, 2005... Kym Price, CBA has spent over half of her life--20 years--in the field of credit management. Starting out in the business world, she didn't aspire to this profession but, after being given credit management tasks in her first job, she learned...

SEC delays adoption of FAS 123 (R).(HEADLINE)(Securities and Exchange Commission)(Financial Accounting Standards Board)
May 1, 2005... The Securities and Exchange Commission announced the adoption of a new rule that amends the compliance dates for Financial Accounting Standards Board's Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 123 (revised 2004), Share-Based Payment...

Chinese immigrant textile workers protest jobs being outsourced to China.(HEADLINE)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Chinese immigrant workers in San Francisco are protesting the loss of garment jobs they say are being outsourced to China. Former employees of apparel maker Nova Knits Inc. say they were laid off last month without prior notice, severance pay...