H&R Block CFO William Trubeck has relinquished his role after three years, effective immediately, the company announced. Treasurer Becky Shulman was named acting CFO.
In a company press release, Trubeck said he’s proud of what his team accomplished during a “challenging period of time.” The company turned down CFO.com’s request for an interview with Trubeck.
One challenge in particular has plagued the company during the past year. Prompted by the subprime lending crisis, funding for Block’s mortgage loan subsidiary, Option One, was cut practically in half, which subsequently diminished its hopes of divesting the unit. The company has continually modified an agreement to sell Option One to Cerberus Capital Management.
Also this year, Block took in a new director who is sure to have a heavy influence: shareholder activist and former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Richard Breeden. The election of Breeden, who upped his stake in the company, prompted Block to switch audit firms because of independence concerns. Last month, Block hired Deloitte & Touche to replace KPMG because the latter is in the middle of a deferred prosecution agreement overseen by Breeden and two other new Block directors.
For Trubeck, ties with Block may extend through the end of the year. Block said he will be on hand to provide consulting services through December to help with the transition and unfinished projects.
Trubeck has spent much of his career as a CFO. In addition to overseeing Waste Management’s financial operations before he joined Block in 2004, he served as CFO and president of International Multifoods’ Latin American operations and held the finance chief position at Honeywell, NWA and Northwest Airlines, and SPX Corp. He also once held financial positions at Ford Motor Credit and Aetna Business Credit.