• Office Depot announced CFO Patricia McKay is resigning from the office supplier Tuesday, just before the company filed its annual report, which revealed a formal investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Charles Brown, McKay’s predecessor and president of Office Depot’s international division, will take over until a permanent replacement is named.
• Motorola has announced Paul Liska will serve as its executive vice president and finance chief starting March 1. Tom Meredith, the wireless phone provider’s acting CFO, will continue to serve as a non-management member of the board of directors and aid Liska in the transition. Most recently Liska was an industrial partner for private equity firms MidOcean Partners, CVC Capital Holdings, and Ripplewood Holdings LLC. He has also served as CFO of Sears, Roebuck and Co., and The St. Paul Cos.
• Trex Co. has appointed James Cline as vice president and chief financial officer, beginning March 18. Cline, who was most recently president of Harsco GasServ, will replace interim CFO Anthony Cavanna, who has held the position since September 2007.
• Wafer probe cards manufacturer FormFactor’s CFO Ronald Foster will leave the company to pursue other business opportunities. The Livermore, Calif.-based company has started a search for his successor, and Foster will stay through the transition.
• Ronald Jadin will take over the position of finance chief at W.W. Grainger this March, replacing CFO P. Ogden Loux, who was named vice chairman. Jadin, the former vice president and controller, will be responsible for the Chicago-based industrial supplier’s financial planning and analysis, financial processes, financial reporting, internal audit, and treasury operations.
• The Hartford Financial Services Group has named Lizabeth Zlatkus as its executive vice president and CFO. Zlatkus, who is co-chief operating officer, will take on the top finance position May 1. In January, current CFO David Johnson announced he would leave the company mid-year.
• Sportswear retailer Under Armour has promoted its finance chief, Wayne Marino, to the newly created position of chief operating officer. He joined the company as CFO in 2004. Brad Dickerson now assumes the finance chief position.
• Pharmaceutical company Proteolix has appointed Matthew Ferguson to its newly created finance chief position. The company decided to tap Ferguson for the spot because of his experience with financing in private and public markets as well as developing teams and infrastructure in high-growth environments. Ferguson was formerly the CFO for medical device maker FoxHollow Technologies.
• CFO of Smart Modular Technologies Jack Pacheco has announced he will leave the company on April 18 to take a position with a private company in a different industry. Pacheco, who spent 14 years in the semiconductor industry, will be replaced Smart’s CEO and president Iain MacKenzie until a new finance chief is named.
• Olivier Poupart-Lafarge, deputy chief executive and finance chief of French conglomerate Bouygues, announced his retirement after 34 years with the group. Deputy CFO Philippe Marien will take over his position.
• French luxury group PPR, owner of brands such as Gucci and Balenciaga, has appointed CFO Jean-Francois Palus as deputy chief executive, second in command to CEO Francois-Henri Pinault.
• Mark Williams has been promoted from COO of broadcaster Sky Italia to CFO for Europe and Asia at parent company News Corp. Stephen Daintith has been named executive vice president and CFO of Dow Jones, another unit of the media conglomerate.
• UK media group Mecom has appointed John Allwood as its new finance director, replacing Keith Allen, who will become COO.
• Ken Duncan has left Rolls-Royce to become finance director at the Manchester Airports Group.