But the SEC's not likely to back off its stringent definition of financial expert -- particularly since that definition was mandated by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Under SEC rules, a company's management must disclose to investors whether a financial expert sits on the company's audit committee. If the committee doesn't have someone that matches the SEC definition, management must issue an explanation to investors. And few corporates want to risk such an admission.

The SEC rule is unyielding: a financial expert must understand financial statements, GAAP, internal controls and procedures for financial reporting, and audit committee functions. In addition, that person must be able to assess the application of accounting principles regarding accounting estimates, accruals and reserves, and have experience preparing, analyzing or evaluating financial statements that are comparable (in accounting complexity) to the statements of the company on whose board they sit.

The NYSE, on the other hand, wants its audit committee members to have "accounting or related financial management expertise." Nasdaq calls for past experience in finance or accounting or a professional accounting certification.

Short Takes

• Williams Cos. hired Donald R. Chappel, 51, as CFO. He succeeds Jack McCarthy, who retired in December. Most recently, Chappel was CEO of a Chicago-based development business he founded. Twice during the late 1990s, Chappel was CFO at Waste Management Inc.; before and after that company's 1998 merger with USA Waste Services. With Chappel's hiring, interim CFO Gary Belitz will resume his duties as controller and chief accounting officer.
  
  

• Former DreamWorks SKG COO Ronald Nelson is appointed to the Cendant board, immediately, and will take over as finance chief of the travel and real-estate company on May 12. Before signing on with DreamWorks in 1994, Nelson was CFO of Paramount Communications. Nelson replaces Kevin Sheehan, who will focus on his role as chairman and CEO of Cendant's vehicle services division.
  
  

• A federal judge postponed the tax-evasion trial of former Tyco International Ltd. CFO Mark Swartz, which was slated to begin on April 15 in Concord, N.H. The new trial is set for July 8. Swartz allegedly failed to report a $12.5 million Tyco bonus in 1999, thereby sidestepping a $5 million federal tax bill. Swartz's attorneys were trying to reschedule the April court appearance for late November. That would have allowed Swartz's lawyers to concentrate on his upcoming Sept. 29 trial in New York City, where the onetime Tyco finance chief faces criminal charges, reports Reuters.
  
  

• Under pressure from the Securities and Exchange Commission, officials at the Nasdaq stock market have decided to split the job of chairman and CEO. This, according to The New York Times. The changing of the guard takes place on May 12, when current Nasdaq chairman and CEO Hardwick Simmons retires. Robert Greifeld will be named CEO. Currently, Greifeld is vice president at Sungard Data Systems, which owns Nasdaq competitor Brut. The chairman slot will be filled by H. Furlong Baldwin, an outside director. Baldwin believes the separation puts Nasdaq in a "leadership role," but he says the exchange won't push companies that trade stock on its system to make the split.
  
  

• Former GE Capital Vice President of Finance Anthony Chrysikos was sentenced to 15 months in jail for insider trading. In addition, he was fined $4,000 and sentenced to three years of supervised release. Chrysikos pleaded guilty to securities fraud violations for a July 2001 incident in which the finance chief tipped off his Kung-Fu instructor, about a merger between GE Capital Corp. and Heller Financial Inc. Acting on the tip before the merger was announced, the instructor made a $157,259 profit off of his $11,000 investment in Heller -- and apparently shared the proceeds with Chrysikos.
  
  

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