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

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

You say you want a revolution.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
October 1, 2008... I wonder if a better title for David Katz's article would have been "Fair-Value Renaissance," rather than "Revolution" ("Fair-Value Revolution," September). A revolution, according to Webster's, is a drastic change in ways of thinking and...

Two years are harder than four.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
October 1, 2008... Advising students to stay home and attend two-year colleges ("Debt Financing 101," Topline, September) might seem to make sense, except for one thing: many two-year colleges do not accept federal loans. Trying to find financing for a...

The effects of IFRS.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
October 1, 2008... This is in response to your July/August article on international financial reporting standards ("IFRS and When," Topline). I am a member of the Financial Accounting Standards Board's Small Business Advisory Committee, representing the Small...

Wishing for the Best.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
October 1, 2008... I want to commend you on your terrific article "Going for the Gold" (July/August). Your explanation of the Women's United Soccer Association's downfall is the best I've seen. I joined the front office for the league in its second season and...

The real danger in wanting to be like everyone else is that we become like everyone else. That's just trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.(IFRS)(International Financial Reporting Standards)
October 1, 2008... "The real danger in wanting to be like everyone else is that we become like everyone else. That's just trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. The mantra that the U.S. is going to be left behind [from a global-competition...

Convergence divergence.(IFRS)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] THE UNVEILING of the Securities and Exchange Commission's new road map to international financial reporting standards (IFRS) in late summer came as a relief to some, but also sparked a backlash as critics questioned...

Street fright.(BANKING)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] THE EVENTS OF SEPTEMBER 14 PROMPTED an uncomfortably large number of comparisons to the 1930s, as Lehman Brothers went bankrupt, Merrill Lynch was acquired, AIG sought a massive cash infusion, and rumors swirled...

The jury's out.(ACCOUNTING)
October 1, 2008... LAST JANUARY, Apollo Group, owner of the University of Phoenix, learned a hard lesson about the risk of going to trial when a jury ordered it to pay shareholders up to $278 million in a securities class-action case. But the company enjoyed a...

Cut or grow? It depends.(topline)
October 1, 2008... The Duke University/CFO magazine Global Business Outlook Survey recently asked chief financial officers to rank their strategic priorities for 2009. The tug-of-war between revenue growth and cost-cutting was evident, with a strong number of...

Doing the limbo.(IPOS)
October 1, 2008... IT'S A GREAT TIME TO THINK ABOUT taking a company public, lust don't actually do it. Or so a recent Ernst & Young report suggests. In second-quarter 2008--when there were no venture-backed offerings--30 optimistic companies registered with...

Swing time.(WALL STREET)
October 1, 2008... IS YOUR NECK BEGINNING TO ACHE? This has been a roller-coaster year for the stock market. Thanks in part to the 504-point drop following Lehman Brothers's bankruptcy filing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had seen daily swings of 1 percent on...

Power points.(ENERGY)
October 1, 2008... SKYROCKETING ENERGY COSTS mean CFOs who haven't evaluated energy efficiency in the past two years are "letting money fly out the door," says Jerry Jackson, energy economist and professor at Texas A&M University. He estimates the right...

No money-saver.(E-PROXIES)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... Last year was the first which companies could legally dispense with printing and mailing proxies to their shareholders and put everything online, potentially saving millions of dollars in time and money. Did that option live up to its promise?...

A Chicken and nest-egg problem.(401(k) PLANS)
October 1, 2008... MOST CFOs THINK that offering employees a 401(k) plan is not only a necessary part of doing business but "the right thing to do," according to a recent survey of more than 200 finance executives by CFO Research Services (in collaboration with...

Vervatim.(topline)(Correction notice)
October 1, 2008... "The mistakes of a few have hurt a large number of good folks. I feel very bad for all the professionals at Lehman who have lost a significant amount of their net worth, and who now follow [those at] Arthur Andersen and Bear Stearns." --...

Discontent runs high.(STAFFING)(Statistical table)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... Fewer than one-third of employees in North America are actually "engaged" in, or satisfied with, their job, according to a recent study by consulting firm Blessing White, while 19 percent are fully disengaged. Bad news for CFOs: of...

Best of the Web: a snapshot of some of the most popular stories from cfo.com.(topline)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] * Nine Things To Ask Your Future Boss A bad fit with the chief executive is an almost certain kiss of death for a CFO, so finding out what makes him or her tick should be a top priority during the interview...

Business outlook survey: as the economy struggles, pessimism permeates the C-suite.(by the numbers)
October 1, 2008... WHEN IT COMES to predicting a U.S. economic revival, even optimistic finance executives sound gloomy. They do expect the economy to show signs of life--but not until mid-2009. And while this quarter's Duke University/CFO Global Business Outlook...

View from Europe: Corporate Europe eyes a post-Bush Presidency.(topline)
October 1, 2008... ALTHOUGH spared the mudslinging ads on television and in local press, CFOs on this side of the Atlantic are watching the final weeks of the U.S. Presidential campaigns more closely than they have in previous elections. Indeed, regardless of...

Cash, credit, or cell phone? Mobile payments may soon change the way Americans buy.(in tech)
October 1, 2008... CASH MAY STILL BE king, but on the streets of Japan there's a new rival for the throne. Millions of people there use their mobile phones to buy everything from vending-machine sodas to train tickets. To pay, a user passes a chip-enabled handset...

Hostiles take over: more companies are under assault as unsolicited bids proliferate.(deals)
October 1, 2008... HOSTILITIES ARE RUNNING high in M&A. Through late August, 48 unfriendly deals (hostile or unsolicited) had been made, worth $131 billion, versus 54 in all of 2007, worth $77 billion, according to FactSet MergerMetrics. InBev's $52 billion...

And they're off! (But should you worry?) The hysteria over retiring baby boomers is ill-founded, but companies do face a specific kind of labor shortage.(insight)
October 1, 2008... When Kathleen Casey-Kirschling collected her first Social Security check in Vero Beach, Florida, last February, alarm bells went off across the nation. Casey-Kirschling, born January 1,1946, is considered the first baby boomer. Therefore, her...

MasterCard's Martina Hund-Mejean.(ON THE RECORD)(Interview)
October 1, 2008... AT FIRST GLANCE, MasterCard's core business model would seem enviable: it collects a fee on every payment it processes. But while Martina Hund-Mejean, who became CFO last year, appreciates "the high profitability of this sector," she's quick to...

Dear Mr. President: both as business people and citizens, CFOs have plenty of advice for the next occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] On November 4, the nation will choose either Democrat Barack Obama or Republican John McCain as its 44th President. The winner will inherit a mess. Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a crisis in the credit markets, a...

Adult education: by helping employees make the most of the benefits companies offer, employers help themselves as well.(CFO 20/20 view on benefits)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] If you want to offer employees an inexpensive benefit that will foster loyalty and boost productivity, consider a navigation system. No, not a GPS, but a tool that will guide them in making a host of decisions about...

The fall season.(banking & finance)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] WHEN A FINANCIAL CRISIS HITS, it seems to do so like a hurricane--quickly, devastatingly, and following an erratic path. In reality, it's more like an elaborate formation of dominos tumbling in slow motion....

Now what? As banks tend to their balance sheets and seek higher returns on capital, corporate lines of credit are becoming more expensive--and tougher to keep.(banking & finance)
October 1, 2008... IS IT AN INSIGNIFICANT CRACK, or a sign that the foundation is about to crumble? That's what Pepco Holdings found itself wondering when one of the 16 participants in its revolving-loan syndicate recently exercised an option to reduce its...

The champ feels some heat: stock exchanges in Asia and Europe have made tremendous strides in raising equity capital for companies over the past three years. is U.S. superiority at an end?(banking & finance)(Company overview)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Deep into the largest financial shock since the Great Depression, it is easy to imagine that the rise of the Chinese and Indian economies and the resurgence of London as a financial center could tilt the balance of...

Battered but not broken: tightened underwriting has strained the relationship between banks and CFOs, but few seem ready to look elsewhere.(banking finance)
October 1, 2008... CFOs AND BANKS ARE STILL TALKING, but the relationship is rockier than it has been in some time. So suggests a CFO survey of finance executives at 268 companies. Since the onset of the credit crunch, 28 percent of finance chiefs, for example,...

Back to the drawing board: burned by complex deals, investment banks show a new appreciation for simplicity.(banking & finance)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Talk about a harbinger: When FairPoint Communications finally received long-awaited regulatory approval to acquire Verizon Communications's New England landline assets in March, the banks financing the deal panicked....

Leaving home: a foreign post can advance your career, but don't let your sense of adventure get the best of you.(in practice: your move)
October 1, 2008... AFTER 25 years at General Electric Capital Corp., Keith Helming was ready to fulfill his career goal and become a public-company CFO--even if it meant relocating. So in 2006, he moved across the Atlantic to become the finance chief of Aercap,...

Campbell Soup.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
October 1, 2008... Campbell Soup has selected B. Craig Owens to be its CFO. He replaces Robert Schiffner, who stepped down as CFO in August and will retire from the company in January. Owens most recently served as CFO of Delhaize Group.

Acme Packet.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
October 1, 2008... Communications-equipment maker Acme Packet has named Peter Minihane as its new CFO. He succeeds Keith Seidman, who retired but remains with the company through the transition period. Minihane was CFO at Colubris Networks.

FairPoint Communications.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
October 1, 2008... Alfred Giammarino is the new CFO at telecommunications provider FairPoint Communications. Giammarino, who wassenior financial consultant at Sensus Metering Systems, replaces Lisa Hood, who was acting CFO after John Crowley resigned in August....

Knot Inc.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
October 1, 2008... Media company Knot Inc. has appointed John Mueller as its CFO. He takes the reins from Richard Szefc, who resigned. Muetler was previously CFO of Genius Products.

Verifone Holdings.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
October 1, 2008... Robert Dykes is the new CFO at electronic-payment-solutions provider Verifone Holdings. Dykes replaces Clinton Knowles, who was interim CFO. Dykes had been chairman and CEO of NebuAd.

Micromet.(CFOs ON THE MOVE)
October 1, 2008... Biopharmaceutical company Micromet has named Barclay Phillips to the CFO post. He steps in for Donald Zelm, who was interim finance chief after the resignation of Christopher Schnittker in December. Zelm remains executive director of finance....

Can ex-CFOs save Freddie & Fannie?(grapevine)
October 1, 2008... WHEN TREASURY SECRETARY Henry Paulson orchestrated the government's historic takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, he tapped two ex-CFOs to head up the struggling government-sponsored enterprises. Herbert Allison will be in charge of Fannie...

Enron: another final chapter.(grapevine)
October 1, 2008... FORMER ENRON SHAREHOLDERS GOT A LITTLE PAYBACK last month when a federal judge approved the distribution of $7.2 billion in settlements. Like so much else about Enron, the case is historic, representing the largest settlement ever in U.S....