Delta Reports $450 Million Loss on Fuel Hedge

Delta Air Lines has taken another hit on its fuel hedges, reporting a $450 million loss as fuel prices remained well below historical norms.The carrier recently closed its hedge book after failing to make a profit from the practice since the second quarter of 2014. In a regulatory filing Tuesday,...

By Christopher Hosford • July 6, 2016

Dublin’s Seagate to Cut 1,600 Jobs

Dublin-based Seagate Technology on Wednesday said it would cut 1,600 employees or 3% of its global headcount, as part of its previously announced efforts to reduce its cost structure.The plan, which the company expects to complete by the end of the third quarter, should result in total pretax cha...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • June 30, 2016

Explore the Trendline➔

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

Cisco Adds CloudLock to Security Offerings

Cisco Systems has announced another deal in the data security space, agreeing to acquire software startup CloudLock for $293 million.CloudLock helps companies track how employees are using cloud services such as Google Drive, Dropbox, and Salesforce. Cisco’s other recent security acquisitions hav...

By Matthew Heller • June 29, 2016

Smacc Raises $3.8M for Robo-Accounting Platform

Accounting software startup Smacc has raised $3.8 million in Series A funding to develop its platform for automating accounting and finance processes.The German company said Monday its investors include Cherry Ventures, Rocket Internet, Dieter von Holtzbrinck Ventures, Grazia Equity, and business...

By Matthew Heller • June 28, 2016

Fewer Than Half of IT Orgs Adding Headcount

Economic uncertainty is impacting IT spending, particularly on new hires, according to a survey of more than 200 IT executives in the United States and Canada by Irvine, Calif.-based Computer Economics.Fewer than half (46%) of all companies in the firm’s IT Spending and Staffing Benchmarks 2016/2...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • June 28, 2016

SEC Proposes New ‘Smaller Reporting Company’ Rule

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed making it easier for registrants to qualify as “smaller reporting companies” subject to less stringent disclosure requirements.Smaller reporting companies are eligible for “scaled disclosures,” meaning they do not need to provide as much fi...

By Matthew Heller • June 28, 2016

Cost Management: The Least Glamorous, Most Important Task

Cost management is often the neglected stepchild of the finance chief’s office, often overlooked in favor of the more exciting tasks of finding new and innovative ways of growing existing markets or tapping into new ones. But while lower profile, managing costs, staying on budget, and making adju...

By Brian Stewart • June 28, 2016

There’s a Bot for That

Last week was the annual “Tech Week” here in Chicago, highlighting a number of themes from the Midwest startup scene (we’re not Silicon Valley of course — not even up to Silicon Alley as yet, but there’s a surprisingly vibrant tech community). There was a lot of internet of things activity, as we...

By John Parkinson • June 28, 2016

U.K. Economy Faces ‘Significant Slowdown’: S&P

The United Kingdom’s vote to leave the European Union is a “seminal event” that will harm the U.K. economy on multiples levels, Standard & Poor’s said on Monday.In its report detailing why it downgraded the U.K.’s sovereign credit rating to “AA” from “AAA,” S&P said the country’s gross do...

By Vincent Ryan • June 27, 2016

CEOs and CFOs Are Misaligned on Strategy, Growth

A perception gap exists between CEOs and CFOs that doesn’t bode well for companies.  According to an in-depth study from Accenture, there’s a disconnect between CEOs and CFOs regarding how to tackle problems related to profitability and growth.CEOs (35%) are more likely than CFOs (19%) to say tha...

By Kris Timmermans and Don Schulman • June 27, 2016

CFOs on the Move: Week Ending June 24

Online financial-services provider Enova International has named Steve Cunningham to the top finance spot. He replaces Rob Clifton, who will become chief accounting officer. Previously, Cunningham was chief risk officer at Discover Financial Services.Jim Peters Whirlpool chief accounting officer ...

By Joan Urdang • June 24, 2016

Pay Gap Widens Between Finance Execs, Rank and File

The gap between the pay of finance executives and rank-and-file workers widened once again in 2015, according to the annual compensation survey from Grant Thornton and the Financial Executives Research Foundation (FERF).Among 363 respondents with titles including CFO, corporate controller, vice p...

By David McCann • June 24, 2016

Merrill Lynch to Pay Record Customer Protection Fine

In the largest consumer protection settlement in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission history, Merrill Lynch has agreed to pay $415 million to settle charges that it misused customer cash and exposed customer securities to claims from its creditors.The SEC on Thursday said the Bank of America ...

By Matthew Heller • June 23, 2016

China Has a Productivity Opportunity: McKinsey

If China shifts gears and embarks on a new approach centered on productivity, the country could generate 36 trillion renminbi ($5.6 trillion) of additional GDP by 2030, compared with continuing on the investment-led path. That’s according to the McKinsey Global Institute report, “China’s choice: ...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • June 23, 2016

Applications for Unemployment Fall

The job market may be holding steady after all, as applications for unemployment benefits fell last week to the lowest level since April — even though hiring slowed in May.Initial claims were 259,000, seasonally adjusted, a decrease of 18,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 277,000, t...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • June 23, 2016

How Traditional Retailers Can Save Themselves

Non-store retail – catalog shopping and phone ordering, plus door-to-door sales originally, now, increasingly, e-commerce – has been around for a long time (more than 110 years with a longer history of the “traveling salesman” or “drummer” prior to that). But for many years up to the start of the...

By John Parkinson • June 23, 2016

How 403(b) Plans Can Inform 401(k) Plans

Many Americans today can expect to spend 20 years or more in retirement, but for some, increased longevity may bring added uncertainty about their financial futures.According to TIAA data, a couple at age 65 has an 89% chance of one of them living to 85, a 73% chance to reach 90, and a 49% chance...

By Tim Walsh • June 23, 2016

Three Ways to Add 401(k) Plan Value

With the annual review of their 401(k) plan always just around the corner, plan sponsors should think through any changes they may need to make to ensure the plan remain compliant with ERISA. But while undertaking such due diligence, don’t forget to also think through ways to improve the plan.The...

By Jamie Hopkins and Robert Johnson • June 23, 2016

Special Report: 401(k) Trends and Tips for 2016

Belying their name, passive investment options are making a lot of noise in the 401(k) arena.Not surprisingly, considering the growing popularity of passively managed funds among investors generally, plan-sponsoring employers are providing more ways for participants to go passive.What may be quit...

By David McCann • June 22, 2016

Passive Aggression

For 401(k) plan sponsors, the risk of being sued is once again on the rise. Over the past year, plan participants have filed class actions against companies like Verizon Communications, Intel, Chevron, and BB&T over high fees or poor performance. Not surprisingly, some plan sponsors are switc...

By David McCann • June 22, 2016

Good Advice for Plan Sponsors: Monitor Advisers

A new Department of Labor rule slated to take effect in April 2017 is aimed at eliminating conflicts of interest for those who provide financial advice to small retirement plans (those with less than $50 million in assets), individual participants of all plans, and IRA owners.That’s mostly good n...

By David McCann • June 22, 2016

Reassessing the Pension Protection Act

Signed into law by President George W. Bush on August 17, 2006, the Pension Protection Act (PPA) heralded the most significant changes to the nation’s pension laws since the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) of 1974.The sweeping reform was designed to strengthen the beleaguered pens...

By Clint Cary • June 22, 2016

China’s Tencent Makes $8B Mobile Game Move

Chinese gaming giant Tencent Holdings is raising its global profile, acquiring most of mobile game developer Supercell for about $8.6 billion.Finland’s Supercell makes some of the world’s highest-grossing games including Clash of Clans. It posted sales of 2.1 billion euros ($2.38 billion) last ye...

By Matthew Heller • June 21, 2016

Fed’s Oversight of Cybersecurity Being Audited

The Office of Inspector General of the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors is currently reviewing how the U.S. central bank is providing adequate oversight of financial institutions’ information security controls and cybersecurity threats, the watchdog said in a report of its current activities....

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • June 21, 2016

Financial Adviser Accused of Scamming Athletes

A California-based investment adviser has been charged with defrauding professional athletes by siphoning off more than $33 million from client accounts to a struggling online ticket business in which he is a shareholder.The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday said Ash Narayan, a t...

By Matthew Heller • June 21, 2016