BlackRock Tightens Standards for CEOs

BlackRock voted against chief executive officers at 94 companies who were running for reelection to the corporate boards of other companies, according to a report from the asset manager.The company this year started enforcing stronger scrutiny of CEOs who serve on more than one corporate board th...

By Lauren Muskett • Aug. 27, 2019

Kraft Heinz Brings Back its Former CFO

Paulo Basilio is returning to his former CFO position at Kraft Heinz starting September 1. The regulatory filing outlining the change described Basilio as a “seasoned veteran.”Basilio served as CFO from July 2013 to October 2017 and was replaced by David Knopf, who came from 3G Capital. Basilio s...

By Lauren Muskett • Aug. 26, 2019

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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

Celgene to Sell Otezla for $13.4B

Celgene reached an agreement to sell global rights of its psoriasis treatment Otezla to Amgen for $13.4 billion, the companies announced. The deal helps clear the way for Bristol-Myers Squibb to proceed with its $74 billion deal for Celgene by the end of the year.Analysts had expected Otezla to s...

By Lauren Muskett • Aug. 26, 2019

U.S.-China Trade War Rattles Markets

China is moving to slap tariffs of 5% to 10% on $75 billion worth of products from the United States, including soybeans and crude oil, the Chinese State Council said Friday.The announcement comes after the Trump administration said it planned to impose 10% tariffs on $300 billion in Chinese good...

By Vincent Ryan • Aug. 23, 2019

Hasbro Acquires Peppa Pig’s Entertainment One Brand for $4B Cash

Toymaker Hasbro announced on Friday that it will buy Entertainment One (eOne), the company behind children’s preschool brand Peppa Pig, in an all-cash transaction valued at $4 billion (£3.3 billion).Under the terms of the agreement with the maker of Monopoly and other time-honored toys, Entertain...

By Vincent Ryan • Aug. 23, 2019

CFOs On the Move: Week Ending August 23

Globe Photos has appointed Evan Bedell to the top finance spot. He is the founder and former CEO of View Capital.Brian Newman has been named to head finance at UPS, effective Sept. 16. Newman, who takes over for the retiring Richard Peretz, is currently executive vice president, finance and opera...

By Joan Urdang • Aug. 23, 2019

Minutes Show Central Bank Divided Over Rate Cut

Minutes from the two-day meeting of the Federal Reserve last month show policymakers disagreed over the decision to cut interest rates by one-quarter of a percentage point.The minutes of the July 30-31 discussions released Wednesday showed two officials said the Fed should cut its benchmark polic...

By Lauren Muskett • Aug. 22, 2019

Microsoft Discloses ‘Critical Audit Matters’

The first group of large accelerated filers to disclose critical audit matters, required under PCAOB Auditing Standard 3101, includes one of the world’s most high-profile companies: Microsoft.CAMs must be reported for fiscal years ending on or after June 30, 2019. That date marked the end of Micr...

By David McCann • Aug. 22, 2019

Groupon Gets Its Fourth CFO In Four Years

Groupon’s rough summer ride hit another bump on Thursday, with the local daily deals company announcing its CFO Michael Randolfi had resigned to pursue another opportunity.The Chicago-based company said that Chief Accounting Officer and Treasurer Melissa Thomas will serve as interim chief financi...

By Vincent Ryan • Aug. 22, 2019

E-cigarette Makers Questioned Over Health Concerns by U.S. House Panel

The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee asked four major e-cigarette makers about their research and marketing practices after recent vaping-related lung illnesses and the popularity of e-cigarettes among adolescents.The committee sent letters to JUUL Labs (35%-owned by Marlboro maker Altria...

By Lauren Muskett • Aug. 22, 2019

Online Clothing Reseller ThredUp Gets $175 Million Infusion

The online resale marketplace ThredUp received $175 million in venture capital funding, bringing the total capital it has raised so far to $300 million.The San Francisco-based company raised a previously undisclosed $75 million last year. It did not give revenue information.ThredUp said it will u...

By Lauren Muskett • Aug. 21, 2019

Ratings Service for Digital Offerings Charged by SEC

Russian “ratings” firm ICO Rating pitched itself as “a rating agency that issues independent analytical research” on blockchain-based digital assets. It promulgated a mission of helping “the market achieve the necessary standards of quality, transparency, and reliability.”As it turns out, though,...

By Vincent Ryan • Aug. 21, 2019

U.S. Home Refinancing Reaches Three-Year High

U.S. homeowners are choosing to refinance their current mortgages in record numbers, the most in more than three years, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s survey for the week ending August 16, 2019.The seasonally adjusted index on mortgage refinancing activity edged up 0.4%...

By Lauren Muskett • Aug. 21, 2019

Series of Leadership Changes at General Mills; CFO to Retire

Two General Mills top executives, finance chief Don Mulligan and pet segment president Billy Bishop, are leaving the company.Kofi Bruce, the company’s controller, will be promoted to vice president, financial operations on September 1, and will succeed Mulligan as chief financial officer on Febru...

By Lauren Muskett • Aug. 20, 2019

SEC Charges Drug Firm with Reg FD Violations

The SEC on Tuesday charged TherapeuticsMD, a pharmaceutical company that deals with women’s health issues, with violating Regulation FD based on its sharing of material, nonpublic information with sell-side research analysts without also disclosing the same information to the public.The SEC’s ord...

By Vincent Ryan • Aug. 20, 2019

Elanco to Buy Bayer Animal Health Unit for $7.6B

Elanco Animal Health reached an agreement to buy Bayer’s animal health business in a cash and stock deal valued at $7.6 billion.Elanco said the deal, which it will finance through cash and equity, will double the size of its companion animal business.“The move combines our long-standing focus on ...

By Lauren Muskett • Aug. 20, 2019

America’s CEOs Pledge to Rethink Corporate Priorities

The Business Roundtable, a group of the chief executive officers of many of America’s largest corporations, said business leaders should take a broader view of the purpose of a corporation that takes responsibility for improving society, rather than simply enriching shareholders.In its new “State...

By Lauren Muskett • Aug. 19, 2019

Citrix Hires Arlen Shenkman as CFO

Citrix Systems appointed Arlen Shenkman executive vice president and finance chief starting September 9.Shenkman joins the information-technology company from software maker SAP, where he held financial and business development roles critical to SAP’s cloud transformation.Arlen Shenkman “Our clou...

By Lauren Muskett • Aug. 19, 2019

FASB Proposes Later Standards Deadlines for Private Companies

The Financial Accounting Standards Board officially proposed delaying the implementation deadlines for major accounting standards for private companies, smaller reporting companies (SRCs), and not-for-profit organizations. The later deadlines, which FASB hopes to make standard practice, would giv...

By Vincent Ryan • Aug. 16, 2019

Burford Capital CEO’s Wife Steps Down as CFO

Litigation finance firm Burford Capital has reassigned its CFO after a hedge fund raised concerns that she could not function independently because she is married to Burford’s chief executive.Muddy Waters, a San Francisco-based fund that has shorted Burford’s stock, last week cited Elizabeth O’Co...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 16, 2019

SEC Charges 1 Global CFO in Fraud Scheme

The Securities and Exchange Commission charged the former chief financial officer of 1 Global Capital with defrauding retail investors.Regulators said the now bankrupt Florida-based cash advance company, where Alan Heide was CFO, fraudulently raised more than $322 million between 2014 and 2018.Ch...

By Lauren Muskett • Aug. 16, 2019

Microsoft Finds Four Security Flaws in Windows 10

Microsoft has discovered serious flaws in its Remote Desktop Services and issued a critical warning to users of all versions of its platforms, including every version of Windows 10.The company said four serious flaws could be weaponized to automatically spread malware to computers around the worl...

By Lauren Muskett • Aug. 15, 2019

How to Focus on Finance Team Performance

As a good CFO, keeping track of numbers and ratios is an important part of what you do for a living. But are you mostly tracking the numbers for the overall business? If so, are you paying enough attention to the performance of your own department and team members?Here are some concepts you can u...

By Mitchell York • Aug. 15, 2019

Germany’s Economy Shrinks as Exports Struggle

The German economy shrank in the second quarter as manufacturers struggle with a global slowdown due to the U.S.-China trade war and Brexit fears.The GDP for the three months ending in June shrunk 0.1% compared to the previous quarter, which analysts predicted. This is down from 0.4% growth in th...

By Lauren Muskett • Aug. 15, 2019

WeWork IPO Filing Reveals Massive Loss Last Year

WeWork’s parent company The We Company filed to raise $1 billion in an initial public offering on Wednesday, revealing revenues of $1.54 billion and a net loss of more than $900 million for the first six months of 2019.The office-sharing startup reported it lost $1.8 billion last year on $1.9 bil...

By Lauren Muskett • Aug. 14, 2019