Fed Gets Fuel for the Tightening Argument

The core consumer price index rose 0.2% in February, the first increase since October and the biggest rise since June, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Tuesday.The seasonally-adjusted increase in the all-items index was broad-based, with increases in shelter, energy, and food indices a...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • March 24, 2015

Shareholder ‘No’ Votes on Directors Rise

Shareholder support for directors and say-on-pay proposals declined in the second half of 2014, according to a new report that shows 344 directors of U.S. public companies failed to win the support of at least 70% of shares voted.Broadridge Financial Solutions and PwC’s Center for Board Governanc...

By Matthew Heller • March 23, 2015

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From CPA licensure changes to undergoing a digital transformation, these are the most popular stories CFOs are reading. 

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Square Rolls Out Business Payment Service

Startup Square is now offering businesses its Square Cash peer-to-peer payment service for a fee, hoping to generate more revenues from a cash transfer service that is free for consumers.On Monday, Square said that the service would deposit customer payments directly into businesses’ bank account...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • March 23, 2015

OECD Urges China to ‘Adjust Economic Model’

As China’s economic growth slows, the country needs to enact structural reforms to avoid a sharper-than-projected slowdown that could have global effects, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said Friday.While Beijing’s 7% economic growth target for 2015 is “sustainable and a...

By Matthew Heller • March 20, 2015

Tax Reform Coming, But Not Until 2017

While tax executives last year were hopeful that a Republican-controlled House and Senate would finally lead to federal corporate tax reform, this year they believe President Obama would veto any legislative attempts, according to the 2015 Tax Policy Forecast Survey.In the survey, released by Mil...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • March 20, 2015

Watchdog Sees Dark Clouds Ahead for Fannie, Freddie

Despite the recent improvement in the financial performance of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored enterprises’ future profitability is “far from assured” and more bailouts from U.S. taxpayers could be required to keep them afloat, an internal watchdog has warned.In a report rele...

By Matthew Heller • March 20, 2015

CFOs on the Move: Week Ending March 20

Food-services and uniform provider Aramark has appointed Stephen Bramlage, Jr., to lead the finance function, effective April 6. He will take over for Fred Sutherland, who will remain with the firm through year-end and then retire. Bramlage comes to the company after nine years at Owens-Illinois,...

By Joan Urdang • March 20, 2015

Fed Still Biding Its Time on Interest Rate Hike

The U.S. Federal Reserve said Tuesday it has not decided on when to raise interest rates, choosing to continue keeping a close eye on the economy before it takes the plunge.Analysts have been expecting a rate hike around June 2015. In a statement released after a two-day meeting of its policy-mak...

By Matthew Heller • March 18, 2015

Investors Want More Disclosure on Director Qualifications

More than three-quarters of institutional investors believe companies are not doing a good job of explaining why their directors are the right people for the job, an Ernst & Young survey has found.About 100 companies face shareholder proposals this proxy season seeking the ability to nominate...

By Matthew Heller • March 18, 2015

Health Plan Enrollment Fears Prove Moot

Many companies feared that new health-insurance eligibility provisions under the Affordable Care Act that took effect for 2015, as well as the ACA’s individual mandate, would cause more employees to enroll this year, pushing up costs.Any hand-wringing over the matter appears to have been unjustif...

By David McCann • March 18, 2015

Cyber Risk, Shareholder Activism Lead Board Concerns

Risks related to cyber security and shareholder engagement are among the growing challenges facing corporate board members, a new survey released by NYSE Governance Services along with Spencer Stuart.Three-quarters of the participants in the What Directors Think 2015 survey were very confident in...

By Matthew Heller • March 18, 2015

Currency Surprises Hammer Earnings

North American and European corporations in 2014 lost $39.54 billion in revenue from foreign exchange swings, according to the FiREapps 2014 Q4 Corporate Earnings Currency Impact Report.Broken down by region, North American companies reported $27.13 billion in total negative currency impact for 2...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • March 17, 2015

Facebook Sees No Respite From Government Data Requests

The U.S. government was easily the most active requester of user account data from Facebook in the second half of 2014, while India and Turkey made the most requests for content restrictions, according to Facebook’s latest report on government requests.The total number of requests from government...

By Matthew Heller • March 17, 2015

Most Internal Auditors See Role Becoming More Strategic

Amid a rapidly changing business landscape, most internal auditors see themselves moving beyond their traditional assurance provider role and becoming proactive advisers to corporations, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers.PwC’s latest State of the Internal Audit Profession survey found that whil...

By Matthew Heller • March 16, 2015

NCAA Basketball: The Profitability Bracket

The most competitive NCAA Divison I college basketball teams may not necessarily be the most profitable, according to a CNNMoney article on Monday.Take the undefeated University of Kentucky Wildcats, which is heavily favored to win the upcoming NCAA tournament. The team ranks 16th in terms of pro...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • March 16, 2015

Manufacturing Output Dips

The slowing of economic growth in the first quarter was reflected in the third straight month of lower manufacturing output and lower homebuilder sentiment.The Federal Reserve said Monday that U.S. manufacturing output fell 0.2% in February, and that the rates of change for manufacturing in both ...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • March 16, 2015

Insurance: Risk and Reward

Drivers buying insurance from Progressive, an American insurer, get a choice: they can either supply a few bits of information about themselves and receive a quote based on the behavior of similar people, or they can install a small gadget in their car. The device monitors their driving and adjus...

By Economist Staff • March 16, 2015

PBGC Finds Holes in Safety Net for Multiemployer Plans

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.’s safety net for multiemployer private pension plans already has some holes in it, and its effectiveness will decrease as additional terminated plans become insolvent, according to a new PBGC report.Twenty-one percent of multiemployer participants in “current pl...

By Matthew Heller • March 16, 2015

Corporate Insiders Fined for 13D Disclosure Violations

Eight entities and individuals who were beneficial owners of shares in three companies have agreed to pay $258,750 in fines to settle charges that they failed to promptly disclose steps they had taken to take the companies private, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced Friday.Acco...

By Matthew Heller • March 13, 2015

Heating Bills Fuel Drop in Consumer Confidence

Sentiment toward the U.S. economy cooled off this month among lower- and middle-income households as higher home-heating bills due to harsh weather fueled a drop in consumer confidence, the University of Michigan reports.In preliminary results for March, the school’s index of consumer sentiment f...

By Matthew Heller • March 13, 2015

Bitcoin Technology Powering Other Applications

The technology behind bitcoin might be used by IBM to develop a new digital currency system, according to a Reuters exclusive report Thursday.IBM is considering adopting the “blockchain” technology to create a digital currency that could be linked to a person’s bank account, possibly using a wall...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • March 13, 2015

Crude Stocks Curtailing Oil’s Rebound

The International Energy Agency on Friday expressed concerns about the impact on oil prices of the glut of crude supplies and tightening storage capacity in the United States. Both are  causing the price of oil futures to fall.According to the IEA’s March report, U.S. oil production rose by 115,0...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • March 13, 2015

Lumber Liquidators Tries to Regain Its Footing

Lumber Liquidators Holdings on Thursday fought back against a “60 Minutes” segment earlier this month alleging its imported laminated flooring product from China is laced with high levels of formaldehyde. The company offered its customers free safety testing of the product installed in their home...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • March 12, 2015

Box Shares Plunge As Earnings Disappoint

Box’s first quarterly earnings report as a public company showed a larger-than-expected loss, triggering a sharp drop in the cloud storage provider’s stock.The shares were trading at $17.39 Thursday, down about 15% on the previous day’s close, after Box reported it lost $45.8 million, or $2.64 a ...

By Matthew Heller • March 12, 2015

China’s Economic Slowdown Continues

China’s economic performance slumped in the first two months of this year, according to government data released Wednesday, providing further evidence of a slowdown that Beijing may have to address with more stimulus measures.Industrial production in January and February grew 6.8% from a year ear...

By Matthew Heller • March 11, 2015