Tesla’s S&P 500 Entry to Spark Trading Surge

Tesla’s entry into the S&P 500 is expected to prompt record trading as index-tracking funds rebalance their portfolios.S&P estimates that nearly 130 million shares of the electric vehicle maker will need to be purchased to add to the S&P 500. At the current market price, indexers woul...

By Lauren Muskett • Dec. 18, 2020

Alibaba ‘Dismayed’ Over Ethnic Profiling in Facial Recognition Technology

Alibaba Group Holding, in a statement Thursday, said it would not allow any of its technology to be used for targeting specific ethnic groups.What Happened: The Chinese e-commerce giant’s comments come in the aftermath of a report from surveillance industry researcher IPVM that claimed Alibaba’s ...

By Lauren Muskett • Dec. 18, 2020

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Top 5 stories from CFO.com

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

By CFO.com staff

CFOs On the Move: Week Ending December 18

Lauren St. Clair Lauren St. Clair has joined NerdWallet as chief financial officer. St. Clair joins the personal finance platform from eBay, where she was the CFO of North America and responsible for managing all financial aspects of the multi-billion-dollar e-commerce company in the region. Befo...

By Lauren Muskett • Dec. 18, 2020

Robinhood Settles SEC Charges

The stock trading app firm Robinhood has agreed to pay $65 million to settle charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission that it misled customers about its business model and failed to deliver on best execution of trades.“Between 2015 and late 2018, Robinhood made misleading statements an...

By Lauren Muskett • Dec. 17, 2020

SPACs Require Best-in-Class Communications From the Get-Go

While SPAC transactions have long been considered a last resort way to go public, they are now thriving and represented about half of all IPO issuance so far in 2020. Today’s special-purpose acquisition company deals have been validated by numerous high-profile sponsors, established and successfu...

By Moira Conlon • Dec. 17, 2020

Luckin Coffee Fined $180M in Accounting Fraud

China’s Luckin Coffee has agreed to pay $180 million to settle U.S. charges that it fabricated more than $300 million in coupon sales to present a false picture of rapid growth to investors.The coffee retailer, which went public in the U.S. in a blockbuster initial public offering last year, reac...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 17, 2020

As Bitcoin Shoots Past $22K, Some Analysts Can See It Reaching $30K

Bitcoin (BTC) traded above the $22,000 level at press time after having crossed the crucial psychological $20,000 mark in the preceding 24-hour period.What Happened: Wednesday’s surge in the apex cryptocurrency led the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust to close 10.91% higher at $25.81.Major altcoins follow...

By Lauren Muskett • Dec. 17, 2020

U.S. Treasury: Switzerland and Vietnam Are Currency Manipulators

The U.S. Treasury Department has labeled Switzerland and Vietnam currency manipulators and added India, Thailand, and Taiwan to its watchlist. In a long-overdue foreign exchange report, the U.S. Treasury said it suspects the countries are deliberately devaluing against the dollar in order to infl...

By Lauren Muskett • Dec. 16, 2020

Pinterest Settles Gender Discrimination Suit

Social media company Pinterest has agreed to settle a gender discrimination and retaliation lawsuit brought by its former chief operating officer, Francoise Brougher, for $22.5 million.The settlement includes $2.5 million for use in “advancing women and underrepresented communities in the tech in...

By Lauren Muskett • Dec. 15, 2020

Hire a Chief Procurement Officer – You Can’t Afford Not To

Every company should have a chief procurement officer – a skilled individual in charge of working with suppliers and spend to optimize cost structure, profitability, and cash flow. But not many do. The problem may be the title. Procurement, vital as it is, sounds bland. But what if the job title ...

By Nikesh Parekh • Dec. 15, 2020

Buffett: Small Businesses Have Become Collateral Damage, Congress Should Renew PPP

Legendary investor Warren Buffett joined Goldman Sachs Group CEO David Solomon and CNBC’s Becky Quick on “Squawk Box” for a phone interview Tuesday to discuss the impact of the pandemic on small businesses.The Pandemic and Small Business: The CEO of Berkshire Hathaway said the country owes it to ...

By Lauren Muskett • Dec. 15, 2020

Automotive Chip Company Agrees to SPAC Deal

Automotive chip and software company Indie Semiconductor said Tuesday it will go public through a blank-check merger to raise capital for its expansion efforts.The merger with special purpose acquisition company Thunder Bridge Acquisition II values the combined company at $1.4 billion, which will...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 15, 2020

Is China Stepping Up Fintech Regulation a Good Thing?

Fintech has spread throughout China extensively over the last few years. But for the most part, it’s also gone unregulated. Recent investments in this field have accelerated its growth, with some fintech banks reaching values of several billion dollars.As developments in fintech continue to emerg...

By Lauren Muskett • Dec. 14, 2020

EA to Buy U.K. Gaming Company Codemasters for $1.2B

Electronic Arts has reached a deal to buy the U.K. videogame developer Codemasters in a deal worth $1.2 billion. The company is best known for its F1 and Dirt racing game franchises.“Our industry is growing, the racing category is growing, and together we will be positioned to lead in a new era o...

By Lauren Muskett • Dec. 14, 2020

How to Prioritize Employee Health and Wellness

The CEO and head of HR aren’t the only people who should be taking care of your employees’ health and well-being. As the leader of the financial team, it’s your job to keep your employees healthy and safe as well — to take the lead as COVID-19 continues to make headlines around the world.As McKin...

By Paul Herrerias • Dec. 14, 2020

Zurich to Buy MetLife Property and Casualty Business

Zurich Insurance Group has reached an agreement to buy MetLife’s Metropolitan Property and Casualty Insurance busines in a $3.94 billion cash transaction, the companies said.Zurich said the deal will give it nationwide presence in the U.S. and access to MetLife’s distribution channels to 3,800 co...

By Lauren Muskett • Dec. 11, 2020

CFOs On the Move: Week Ending December 11

Andre Schulten Procter & Gamble promoted Andre Schulten to finance chief, effective March 1. Schulten, who joined the company in 1996, is currently senior vice president of baby care in North America. Earlier in his career, Schulten held other roles, including senior vice president of finance...

By Lauren Muskett • Dec. 11, 2020

Electric Last Mile Delivery Vehicle Maker Chooses SPAC Merger

Electric delivery van company Electric Last Mile Solutions is set to go public through a SPAC merger with Forum Merger III.The deal values the company at $1.4 billion. Forum Merger III shareholders will own 17.6% of the new company. Electric Last Mile will trade under the ticker “ELMS” on the NAS...

By Vincent Ryan • Dec. 11, 2020

Sequential Brands Accused of Accounting Fraud

Brand management company Sequential Brands has been charged with ignoring “clear evidence” of goodwill impairment to create a false impression of financial health while its stock price was falling.The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said Sequential began improperly accounting for goodwill...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 11, 2020

How Airbnb’s Valuation Compares With That of Other Hotel Companies

Airbnb is set to deliver some huge gains for IPO investors on Thursday. After pricing its IPO shares at $68 on Wednesday, the stock opened for trading at $146.That $146 price range values Airbnb at around $100 billion, up from an $18 billion valuation during its last private fundraising round in ...

By Vincent Ryan • Dec. 10, 2020

MicroStrategy to Raise $550M In Debt to Fund Purchase of More Bitcoin

Business intelligence software company MicroStrategy said Wednesday it would raise $550 million by the way of debt instruments to buy bitcoin, an increase of $150 million over its Monday announcement.The 0.75% convertible senior notes would be sold in a private offering to qualified institutional...

By Vincent Ryan • Dec. 10, 2020

Health Care Questions CFOs Should Ask and Expect An Answer To

Heading into 2021, many companies are looking for ways to trim their budgets. Employee benefits are not usually one of the first places on the P&L that CFOs look to for savings. It’s somewhat of a black box: There is typically a great deal that companies don’t know about how their own health ...

By Michael Waterbury • Dec. 10, 2020

Sony to Buy AT&T’s Anime Streaming Business Crunchyroll

Sony announced it has reached an agreement to buy the anime business Crunchyroll from AT&T and WarnerMedia for $1.175 billion.The direct-to-consumer anime service has more than 3 million subscription-video-on-demand subscribers and 90 million registered users. According to TechCrunch, Crunchy...

By Vincent Ryan • Dec. 10, 2020

GE Fined $200 Million for Accounting Irregularities

General Electric has agreed to pay $200 million to settle a probe of its accounting practices that showed it failed to disclose problems in its power and insurance businesses.According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, GE misled investors about how the power unit was making money an...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 10, 2020

HydraFacial to Go Public Through Merger

The beauty and health company HydraFacial is going public through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company. In a statement, HyrdaFacial said it has reached an agreement to merge with Vesper Healthcare Acquisition, a SPAC cofounded by the former chief executive officer of Allergan, Bren...

By Lauren Muskett • Dec. 9, 2020