Today In Finance

Former CFOs to Lead Fannie, Freddie

CFO.com: Today in Finance — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 11:00:00 GMT

A pair of one-time finance chiefs are tapped to lead the failing mortgage lenders out of the dark. When Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson orchestrated the government's historic takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, he tapped two individual with strong...(read more)

Baidu CFO Jennifer Li

CFO.com: Today in Finance — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 10:00:00 GMT

After a long career at GM, Li's missions in her new job are to sustain sizzling growth at the Internet search firm, and to wear a lot of hats. Last December, Baidu, China's top Internet search provider, suffered a blow — the death of its...(read more)

A Leaky Pool

CFO.com: Today in Finance — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 09:00:00 GMT

The problems of insuring against systemic risk. IT IS a simple but brilliant idea. Pooling risks—the essence of insurance—allows people and businesses to protect themselves from disaster. The insured have the incentive to buy homes or build...(read more)

Accounting-Rule Change Spurs Lawsuit

CFO.com: Today in Finance — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 17:00:00 GMT

A shareholder is suing five banks for not warning her about an accounting proposal that she says precipitated a massive stock price drop. A shareholder is suing five banks, claiming that they did not warn her or other investors about proposed accounting...(read more)

Two Airlines Cut Fuel Surcharges

CFO.com: Today in Finance — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 15:00:00 GMT

Reacting to falling oil prices, Air France-KLM and El Al are the first carriers to rescind special fuel charges instituted earlier this year. What goes up may just come down — even fuel surcharges. A large number of energy guzzlers, from airlines...(read more)

International Accounting Standards Board Chairman Sir David Tweedie

CFO.com: Today in Finance — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:00:00 GMT

The overseer of a coming accounting revolution opines on U.S. companies' inevitable, eventual shift to IFRS. (This is an expanded version of the interview that appeared in the September issue of CFO .) Make no mistake: the International Accounting...(read more)

Acquisition Nixed over Missing Receivables

CFO.com: Today in Finance — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:00:00 GMT

Horne's deal to purchase Amata was contingent on the latter's receipt of $2.4 million from its largest customer. Horne International has terminated its acquisition of Amata Inc., citing Amata's failure to collect outstanding receivables from...(read more)

Tyson Reduced to Junk

CFO.com: Today in Finance — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:00:00 GMT

Commodity cost hikes prompt S&P to bump the meat company's rating down to BB. Standard & Poor's lowered its credit rating for Tyson Foods to junk status — pushing it down two notches, to BB from BBB- — on concerns over the...(read more)

CFO in Focus: The Company Man

CFO.com: Today in Finance — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 10:00:00 GMT

Northern Trust's Steven Fradkin had no zest for career climbing. Excelling at every job he was given while aspiring to none, he evolved into a CFO at the only company he's ever worked for. Steven Fradkin never dreamt of becoming a CFO. The finance...(read more)

False Options

CFO.com: Today in Finance — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 10:00:00 GMT

A study of share options reveals a vast amount of untouched wealth HOW executives are rewarded is one of the many mysteries of China's increasingly powerful companies. Unravelling it is important, not least because it should help to explain corporate...(read more)

Why CFOs Still Don't Like Hedge Accounting

CFO.com: Today in Finance — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 10:00:00 GMT

FASB's effort to make hedge accounting more palatable may not address the real reasons finance chiefs don't like it, including documentation headaches and the risk of restatements. It seems logical to assume that finance chiefs would want to take...(read more)

No Time to Lose: The 2008 Working Capital Scorecard

CFO.com: Today in Finance — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 09:00:00 GMT

Tempted to extend payment terms? That's one sign that working capital demands your immediate attention. Read the complete results of the 2008 working capital survey, or review just those results that appeared in print. Beware your survival instincts...(read more)

Ex-CFO Settles Self-Dealing Fraud Charges

CFO.com: Today in Finance — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 18:00:01 GMT

Former president and finance chief of Natural Health Trends, along with a unit executive, come to terms in SEC civil case. The former president and CFO of a Dallas health-product marketing company, along with another one-time executive, settled Securities...(read more)

Accountant's Theft Excuse? "Deep Middle Age" Depression

CFO.com: Today in Finance — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 17:00:00 GMT

Melbourne, Australia, accounting-firm chairman gives mental reasons for taking a client's $810,000 and using it for his home, cars, and private schools. A Melbourne, Australia, accountant, guilty of stealing nearly $810,000 from a client of 10 years...(read more)

"Bank of Last Resort" Sovereign Funds Pump Out $25.5b

CFO.com: Today in Finance — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 15:00:00 GMT

After that 2008 contribution, up 66 percent from a year ago, SWFs now hold $3 trillion in assets. As the presidential candidates debate America's challenges in a global economy choked by a credit crunch, one complicating factor is drawing increasing...(read more)

AIG on Subprime Spin-off: "Pure Speculation"

CFO.com: Today in Finance — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 14:00:00 GMT

But the hard-hit insurer's plans are likely to include some shedding of risk. The public relations director of American International Group called a report in Thursday's Morning's New York Post that AIG is thinking about spinning off a separate...(read more)

Health Benefit Cost Hike Is a Drop

CFO.com: Today in Finance — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 13:00:00 GMT

Preliminary results from a Mercer survey says corporate health-care costs will rise, but the hike is the lowest in a decade. As expected, health benefits costs are predicted to rise next year. However, the increase is estimated to be lower than it has...(read more)

Green Buildings: A Slow, Steady Blip

CFO.com: Today in Finance — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 12:00:00 GMT

Issues linked to environmentally-friendly real estate may not be top agenda items for CFOs — yet. But it will be hard to ignore the rumblings for long. The greening of commercial real estate is no longer an arcane issue. Witness the practical evidence...(read more)

Nine Things to Ask Your Future Boss, the CEO

CFO.com: Today in Finance — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 11:00:00 GMT

Since knowledge is power, know all you can about your prospective superior's habits, history, likes, and dislikes. How to find that great next CFO job? Here is one tactic that you might overlook but should not: Interview your future boss, the CEO...(read more)

The Counterintuitive Commercial Real Estate Market

CFO.com: Today in Finance — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 10:00:00 GMT

Falling real estate prices don't automatically produce a traditional buyer's market. Unexpectedly, the current downward drift in commercial real estate prices isn't translating directly into cheaper rents for corporations. Faced with the sudden...(read more)

Education Lags behind IFRS Momentum

CFO.com: Today in Finance — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 09:00:00 GMT

Accounting professors predict they'll need at least two years before they can ready students for widespread use of international standards. Don't expect the first knowledgable class until 2011. The first crop of U.S. accounting students trained...(read more)

Ex-Credit Suisse Brokers Charged with ARS Fraud

CFO.com: Today in Finance — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 18:00:00 GMT

The SEC sued two former brokers for selling auction-rate securities backed by subprime assets despite telling customers otherwise. Regulators charged two former Credit Suisse brokers on Wednesday with conspiracy and securities fraud in a $1 billion scheme...(read more)

Banking on Downgrades: S&P's Review

CFO.com: Today in Finance — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 18:00:00 GMT

It nails 10 regional institutions with either outright rating cuts, moves to CreditWatch, or negative outlook shifts. Standard & Poor's completed a review of the banking sector, and it didn't like what it found. The rating agency announced...(read more)

Cure for Low Stock Quotes: A Reverse Split

CFO.com: Today in Finance — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 18:00:00 GMT

Spate of companies giving it a try, often to keep their listing; lately, Progressive Gaming, Emrise, Revlon, and ExpressJet. Reverse stock splits seem to be going forward for more and more companies — a sign that more share prices are dwindling...(read more)

Jailed CA Ex-Chief Kumar Points at Others

CFO.com: Today in Finance — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 18:00:00 GMT

In an affidavit, he says that Charles Wang, Lewis Ranieri and D'Amato knew of crimes. Former CA chairman Sanjay Kumar, from the prison cell where he is serving a 12-year term for his role in a massive accounting fraud scandal, pointed the finger at...(read more)