CFO, The Magazine for Senior Financial Executives articles from February 2008

CFO, The Magazine for Senior Financial Executives archives from February 2008

Bending the rules.(from the editor)(Editorial)
February 1, 2008... AS A GENERAL PRINCIPLE, no one wants to advocate bending the rules in matters concerning corporate finance, especially these days. But we seem to be in the midst of a spree of rule-bending, and much of it may be positive--if challenging. ...

Together we can.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Your article "Carbon Trading" (January) provides good information and examples. It references several of the companies involved in carbon-footprint reduction and how they are going about it. Together we can make a...

String theory and VSOE.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2008... I am currently working my way through a book on string theory. I figure once I master this controversial theory I may be ready to tackle the equally controversial Revenue Recognition Guide 2008 ("Why VSOE Spells Trouble," January). When I...

The rewards of risk.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2008... Carl Jasper is taking a huge risk by challenging the assertion that he backdated options ("Refusing to Roll Over," Grapevine, January). However, if he's innocent, why shouldn't he? Too many times organizations and individuals capitulate to...

Meetings in person still necessary.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2008... Even in the age of videoconferences, the world isn't really flat ("Bring Your Own Pretzels," Topline, January). It is still necessary to meet people face-to-face to build trust and more-effective distant working relationships. Hopefully, the...

More tales of more cities.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2008... Being a commercial-tenant representative based out of Chicago, I found "A Tale of Six Cities" (December 2007) very intriguing. Getting a side-by-side comparison of six major U.S. cities and their commercial real-estate outlooks provides some...

Hitting the nail on the head.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2008... Lori Calabro's succinct article "Look Who's Not Talking" (Topline, December 2007) hits a conspicuous nail on the head. The disconnect between boards and strategic planning is as ridiculous as the solution is easy. Every substantial company...

Less is more--and better.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2008... Thank you for the article on 401(k) plans in your December issue ("The New MIX"). Since a high percentage of our employees are younger and not very interested in saving for the future, we are constantly trying to increase participation in our...

Correction.(letters)(Correction notice)
February 1, 2008... In the chart ("A Year, Interrupted") for the January Deals column, listing the top 20 U.S. deals of 2007, the deck incorrectly said that all but one of the deals were announced after July. In fact, all but one were announced before July 30....

Combination transformation.(topline)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... While FAS 141(R) will change the way companies account for contingent liabilities as part of business combinations, the revised standard, and a new companion rule on minority interests (FAS 160), will affect other line items as well. ...

Facing up to fair value.(Acquisitions and mergers)(Financial Accounting Standards Board)
February 1, 2008... THE MARCH TOWARD fair-value accounting took another notable step in December when the Financial Accounting Standards Board revised FAS 141, its rule on business combinations. The new FAS 141(R) requires companies that acquire assets or assume...

No rest for the Leery.(CAPITAL MARKETS)
February 1, 2008... WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES. Last year at this time, the newly formed Committee on Capital Markets Regulation (CCMR), which was organized by Harvard Law School professor Hal Scott and blessed by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, was...

Attempting to answer the $91,000 question.(SARBANES-OXLEY)
February 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] EVER SINCE COMPANIES began to confront Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the question of how much it actually costs to comply has been hotly debated. While many companies ridiculed the Securities and Exchange...

Dismal science indeed.(ECONOMICS)(prediction of economic conditions)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... WHAT ARE THE ODDS that the United States will enter a recession? No, scratch that: What are the odds that the United States will enter a recession next month? According to New York Fed economist Arturo Estrella, the odds are 0.40965, give or...

Are we strategic yet?(CAREERS)
February 1, 2008... TALK ABOUT AN EXPECTATIONS GAP: When McKinsey & Co. set out to study what happens in the critical first months of a CFO'S tenure, they found that CFOs spend plenty of time on everything except the things that would seem to matter most. While...

Hot jobs in '08: according to Robert Half International, these finance specialties will be in particular demand this year.(EMPLOYMENT)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... INTERNAL AUDITOR: Average salaries are expected to climb 6.7%, to $81,500-$109,500 (at companies with more than $250 million in revenue). Candidates who possess the certified internal-auditor designation will be especially sought. ...

Asian view: half full and half empty.(FORECASTING)
February 1, 2008... WHILE THE LATEST Duke University/CFO Business Outlook Survey found marked pessimism among CFOs regarding the economy (see By The Numbers, January), a recent survey of nearly 8,000 privately held companies finds them much more upbeat. Asia...

Signals of distress.(CREDIT)
February 1, 2008... WHICH COMPANIES will default on bonds this year and next? While the current turn in the corporate credit cycle resembles the weakening that affected corporate bond issuers in 2001--at least in terms of the predicted severity--there will...

Top 10 concerns of CFOs: worries about consumer spending are weighing on finance chiefs.(by the numbers)
February 1, 2008... CFOs EXPRESSED CONCERN ABOUT A WIDE RANGE of issues in the most recent Duke University/CFO magazine Global Business Outlook Survey, but above all they fear that an array of intensifying economic pressures will finally affect U.S. consumers and...

View from Asia: why Indian firms tread lightly when they acquire overseas.(top line)
February 1, 2008... INDIA IS SUPPOSED TO BE THE PLACE THAT steals jobs from hardworking people on Main Street USA. Now, fortified by a strong rupee and flush with cash, India Inc. is looking to buy a piece of Main Street. But its companies are doing it with...

Radical cells: free spreadsheets? Google, OpenOffice, and others offer intriguing alternatives to Microsoft Excel.(in tech)
February 1, 2008... CONTRARY TO WHAT your kids may believe, the personal computer was not created solely to provide access to YouTube, Facebook, and iTunes. In the early days, in fact, no one was quite sure what burning need the PC might satisfy, and even IBM...

Bending the rules: efforts to contain damage from the subprime-mortgage meltdown are stretching accounting rules for securitization.(insight)
February 1, 2008... LAST DECEMBER, AS THEY UNVEILED a plan to freeze the interest rates on thousands of subprime mortgages, President George Bush and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Jr. emphasized the shared interest among homeowners, banks, and investors....

"Partial" success: in the current IPO market, carve-outs are poised for a revival.(deals)
February 1, 2008... IT WAS AN INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERing to make any dealmaker drool. When EMC Corp. raised $1.04 billion last August by carving out a 10 percent stake in VMware--the computer "virtualization" business that EMC had acquired just three years earlier...

WorldCom whistle-blower Cynthia Cooper.(ON THE RECORD)(Interview)
February 1, 2008... THINK OF HER AS THE MOTHER OF 404. Not that that's a goal she ever imagined or one she has embraced. But the odyssey that began when Cynthia Cooper, the then--vice president of internal audit at WorldCom, decided to investigate anomalies in the...

How companies cope with the declining dollar.(Cover story)(Company overview)
February 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] FOR EVERY PENNY the euro increases against the dollar, United Technologies Corp. records an additional $10 million in earnings. A diversified manufacturing behemoth that earns more than 60 percent of its revenues...

A new vision for Accounting: Robert Herz and FASB are preparing a radical new format for financial statements.
February 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] LAST SUMMER, McCORMICK & CO. controller Ken Kelly sliced and diced his financial statements in ways he had never before imagined. For starters, he split the income statement for the $2.7 billion international...

Losing their grip: can China's CFOs keep their companies from growing out of control?
February 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Few ways of getting around China are more harrowing than a nighttime taxi ride through the countryside. Invariably, such trips are taken at high speed. With one hand on the steering wheel, the cabbie will accelerate...

What's wrong with the kids? Coping with the newest generation in finance requires tact, patience--and restraint.(human capital)
February 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] WANTED: Candidate with undergraduate degree in finance/accounting. Long hours not required--come and go as you please. Spend as much time Web-surfing as you want. Work on the projects you like and refuse the rest. If...

Rethinking healthcare: can more employee choice actually lower costs?(human capital)
February 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] HEADING INTO THIS YEAR, $7.3 billion Chesapeake Energy Corp. faced a 10.8 percent increase in the cost of providing health-care benefits--nearly double the expected national average. Higher-trending charges for...

Exit strategies: how companies can help retiring employees transition from savers to consumers.(human capital)(Company overview)
February 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] OVER THE NEXT DOZEN YEARS, BABY BOOMERS, those trend-setting, iconoclastic, and often sharp-elbowed children of the Greatest Generation, will leave the workforce in droves. Unlike their parents, many won't get a...

What's in your wallet? The CD&A gives investors a better view of executive pay. It could also give CFOs a raise.(your move)
February 1, 2008... T'S BEEN A YEAR SINCE THE Securities and Exchange Commission began to require companies to say more about executive pay--including details about perks, severance packages, stock options, pension gains, and retirement benefits--in the...

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
February 1, 2008... Stung by tosses in the subprime-mortgage area, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce has appointed David Williamson as its new CFO. The former CEO of Atlas Cold Storage, Williamson replaces Tom Woods, who is assuming the role of chief risk...

Thermage.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
February 1, 2008... Jack Glenn has been named CFO for medical technology company Thermage. He succeeds Laureen DeBuono, who is leaving to seek executive leadership opportunities in the fife-sciences sector. Glenn was previously CFO at Cholestech.

WeissComm Partners.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
February 1, 2008... Health-care communications firm WeissComm Partners has tapped Tony Esposito as its new CFO. He joins the company from PR agency Ruder Finn, where he served as CFO for more than 10 years.

Norsat International.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
February 1, 2008... Eugene G. Syho has been named CFO of satellite company Norsat International. He replaces James Sharpe, who had served as interim finance chief since July. Syho was previously director of finance and CFO of Stylus Limited Partnership.

LGL Group.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
February 1, 2008... LGL Group has selected Howard D. Castle as its new CFO. Formerly a financial and accounting consultant with Ernst & Young, he succeeds Steve Pegg.

Swift Corp.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
February 1, 2008... Stan Rideout has been named CFO at transportation holding company Swift Corp. He takes the reins from Ramey Peru, who resigned at the end of last year due to persona[ and family reasons. Rideout is the former treasurer and IR officer for Phelps...

Ensequence.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
February 1, 2008... Interactive television company Ensequence has chosen Wayne Graham as its CFO. Graham was most recently CFO of yellow pages publisher Local Insight Media.

Aircell.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
February 1, 2008... Aircell, an aviation telecommunications and broadband company, has appointed Reid Simpson as its CFO. He joins from eCollege, where he was also CFO.

Stand by me.(grapevine)
February 1, 2008... ALL EYES IN THE GENERAL RE CASE may be on the possibility of Warren Buffet testifying. But whether Elizabeth Monrad, the former CFO of the Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary, takes the witness stand is another issue entirely. [ILLUSTRATION...

Will it ever end?(grapevine)
February 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] IN MARCH 2002, when former Waste Management Inc. CFO James Koenig and five other former executives were sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission for their roles in the then-largest accounting scandal in U.S....