Brazilian Aircraft Maker to Pay $205M Over Bribery Allegations

An international aircraft manufacturer settled a Securities and Exchange Commission complaint alleging the company bribed multiple officials in four foreign countries to help secure tens of millions of dollars in aircraft contracts.Brazilian airplane manufacturer Embraer has agreed to pay $205 mi...

By Sean Allocca • Oct. 25, 2016

Why SMB CFOs Should Care About Transfer Pricing

In an era of globalization and continued growth of international trade, intracompany pricing has become an everyday necessity for many businesses. But why has transfer pricing become such a hot tax issue?Cristina Morera Transfer prices (prices charged between related parties) directly affect the ...

By Cristina Morera • Oct. 25, 2016

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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

Five Strategies to Mitigate Global Risks

Winston Churchill said, “He who fails to plan is planning to fail,” and that’s great advice for any company entering the global market. Successful companies mitigate risk with careful market research and preparation. Planning, rather than reacting, is key to achieving strategic goals, particularl...

By Greg Castello • Oct. 24, 2016

FMC Technologies Fined $2.5M Over Accounting

Energy technology company FMC Technologies has agreed to pay $2.5 million to settle charges that it overstated the profits of one of its business segments by reducing the value of the liability it recorded for employee paid time off.The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said two former FMC ...

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 21, 2016

CFOs on the Move: Week Ending Oct. 21

Time Inc. has chosen Sue D’Emic to head finance operations at the company. She was promoted to the position from controller and senior vice president. She will succeed Jeff Bairstow.John Murphy Glenn Landau has been named senior vice president, finance, at International Paper, effective Jan. 1, a...

By Joan Urdang • Oct. 21, 2016

‘One Size Fits All’ Regulation Simply Doesn’t Work

Regulation is essential to ensuring safety, soundness, resiliency, and consumer protection within the banking system. And, since banks occupy a special place in our economy as financial intermediaries that receive the benefits of what is essentially a government subsidiary in the form of deposit ...

By William Stern • Oct. 20, 2016

Employers to Focus on Retention Programs in 2017

Employers aren’t expected to increase spending on traditional pay raises next year, but they might dish out additional cash in the form of retention programs aimed at holding onto the company’s top performers.The 10th annual Compensation and Planning survey from Xerox HR Services polled 172 compa...

By Sean Allocca • Oct. 20, 2016

Considering the Intent of Financial Regulations

While many bankers may jump to answer “yes” when asked if the industry is overregulated, a more relevant answer (or answers) must consider the intentions of the regulations. The purpose of the regulatory structure is three-fold: protect the safety and soundness of the banking system; ensure adher...

By Jose Marina • Oct. 19, 2016

Community Banks Still Struggling with Compliance Costs

Unfortunately, not all of the rules and regulations designed to protect consumers have the desired impact. Often following a crisis, such as the one endured by financial institutions in the late-2000s, regulators will respond with a one-size-fits-all strategy that does not consider the implicatio...

By Ash Patel • Oct. 19, 2016

Does Overregulation Lead to Underperformance?

Some years ago I was privileged to attend a meeting in the ornate Board of Governor’s room at the Federal Reserve in Washington, D.C. The occasion was a meeting of a delegation of senior bankers of the largest banks in California with a Fed governor who was primarily responsible for bank regulati...

By Harold P. Reichwald • Oct. 19, 2016

The Cost of Compliance

In 2011, RLR Management Consulting partnered with CBANK Network to survey 300 banks regarding the cost of compliance. In short, the results were surprisingly encouraging. Of the 300 respondents representing banks ranging from $20 million to $13 billion in assets, 47% reported that their complianc...

By Ruth Razook • Oct. 19, 2016

EY Fined $11.8M Over Defective Client Audits

Ernst & Young has agreed to pay more than $11.8 million to settle charges that it failed to detect an extensive accounting fraud at Weatherford International even though it had classified the oil services firm as a high-risk client.The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday accuse...

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 18, 2016

Making Hedging Strategies Work: It Takes a Committee

From fluctuations in oil and commodity prices to geopolitical conflict and emerging markets, today’s organizations must operate in an ever-shifting global landscape. In the face of such uncontrollable external risks that threaten their companies’ strategy and performance, CFOs are increasingly tu...

By William Watts and Chad Zagar • Oct. 13, 2016

Cybersecurity Insurance Becoming a Must-Have

Welcome to the brave new world of cybersecurity. A September survey by the Risk and Insurance Management Society found that 80% of the companies bought a stand-alone cybersecurity policy in 2016. The takeaway: Policies covering exclusively cyber exposures are now the norm for many large companies...

By Sean Allocca • Oct. 13, 2016

Alcoa Agrees to Extra Pension Contributions

Alcoa has agreed to contribute an additional $150 million to its two largest pension funds to help secure the benefits of 83,000 workers after it splits into two separate companies.The agreement with the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. calls for three $50 million payments over 30 months. Alcoa Ret...

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 13, 2016

Sprint to Mortgage Airwaves to Raise $3.5B

In its latest creative financing move, Sprint said Wednesday it plans to raise $3.5 billion by selling debt backed by about 14% of its wireless airwaves.The cash-poor No. 4 U.S. wireless carrier has previously used its handsets and some of its wireless network equipment as collateral to raise mor...

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 12, 2016

Don’t Tell Me, Show Me

More than a third of U.S. CFOs say political uncertainty will slow their spending plans beyond the presidential election, according to the latest Duke University/CFO Global Business Outlook survey of more than 1,200 senior finance executives. The survey, which was completed on September 9, finds ...

By CFO Editorial Staff • Oct. 12, 2016

The Transformers

At a time when businesses need to make better, more timely decisions, finance executives need to lead a technology-driven transformation within the finance function and across the enterprise.Their sense of urgency permeates a recent study, “The Finance Function’s Readiness for Change,” conducted ...

By Josh Hyatt • Oct. 12, 2016

More Pain Ahead for States’ Pension Plans

U.S. states can expect little short-term relief from their retirement plan problems, according to a Moody’s Investors Service report that predicts their total unfunded liabilities will increase by 40% over the next two years.States are already liable for an estimated $1.25 trillion in pension cos...

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 11, 2016

Incentive Plans and Non-GAAP Performance Measures

Adjustments to GAAP financial performance measures are a perennially hot topic among compensation committees as they weigh year-end compensation decisions. Extraordinary or seemingly peripheral events can make the difference between achieving and missing a performance goal. To minimize the occurr...

By Takis Makridis and Eric Hosken • Oct. 10, 2016

Encryption Isn’t Enough: Tackling Cyber-Regulations

Just last month, the New York Department of Financial Services and Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a series of new rules strengthening cybersecurity requirements for financial firms in the state of New York. This is the latest in a series of announcement aimed at protecting clients, consumers and...

By Prakash Linga • Oct. 7, 2016

CFOs on the Move: Week Ending Oct. 7

Gunnar Wiedenfels will take over as finance chief of Discovery Communications, expected to occur in April. Wiedenfels, who replaces the departing Andrew Warren, was named CFO of German firm ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE last year.Gerard Griffin Zynga has chosen Gerard Griffin to lead the finance functi...

By Joan Urdang • Oct. 7, 2016

Pinterest Hires Twitter Executive as First CFO

Pinterest said Tuesday it had named Twitter executive Todd Morgenfeld as its first CFO, reviving speculation that the image-sharing service is preparing to go public.Morgenfeld will leave Twitter roughly a year and a half after being hired as vice president of finance. He has also worked at Hewle...

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 4, 2016

10 Keys to Reducing Late Payments and Improving Cash Flow

How serious are the problems of late payments and defaults for small and mid-size businesses (SMBs)? Half of all net-30 invoices owed to SMBs are paid late, according to a 2015 study by Fundbox, an online funding platform.Cash flow problems like these can starve a business to death. According to ...

By James Daly • Oct. 4, 2016

Casino-Gaming Company Hit with Whistleblower Penalty

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced a $500,000 settlement in a whistleblower retaliation case against a prominent Las Vegas-operated gaming company on Friday. The International Game Technology (IGT) case is only the second one brought against a company for retaliating against a whist...

By Sean Allocca • Sept. 30, 2016