Human Capital: Page

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    Scrushy Ordered to Repay Bonuses

    Former HealthSouth Corp. chief executive officer Richard Scrushy has been ordered by a judge to repay his former company more than $47.8 million in bonuses, according to published reports.According to The New York Times, a shareholder lawsuit had alleged that because HealthSouth did not, in fact,...

    By Stephen Taub • Jan. 4, 2006
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    SEC Names New General Counsel

    Brian G. Cartwright has been named General Counsel for the Securities and Exchange Commission. He succeeds Giovanni Prezioso, who announced on November 30 that he intends to return to the private sector early this year.“As the top lawyer for the SEC — the investor’s advocate — the general counsel...

    By Stephen Taub • Jan. 3, 2006
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    Recommended Reading: Top Stories of 2005

    “Recommended Reading” is a resource for financial executives, chosen by financial executives. The list below features the articles that were most in demand by our readers in 2005 — original articles from CFO.com, stories drawn from the pages of CFO magazine, and articles from CFO Europe,CFO Asia,...

    By CFO Editorial Staff • Jan. 3, 2006
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    Stock Options: The Backdating Games

    Following a yearlong investigation, it appears the Securities and Exchange Commission is finally beginning to crack down on companies with questionable policies governing stock-option grants. In November, management at Analog Devices Inc. agreed to pay $3 million to settle an SEC investigation in...

    By Laura DeMars • Jan. 1, 2006
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    Flu Factor

    It’s a classic damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t scenario. Faced with the twin threats of a severe flu season and the possibility of avian flu turning pandemic, employers must carefully balance their traditional policies of discouraging no-shows against the multiplier-effect costs of spreadin...

    By Norm Alster • Jan. 1, 2006
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    Into the Fire

    It seems Robert Blakely is making a habit of rescuing scandal-ridden companies.The CFO of MCI Inc. — formerly WorldCom Inc. — will soon have a new job: CFO of Fannie Mae, the Washington, D.C.-based mortgage finance giant, which is coming off its own $11 billion accounting scandal. And at an age w...

    By CFO Editorial Staff • Jan. 1, 2006
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    Dantes, Edmond. "Man and Woman Sitting on Chair Using Laptop" [Photograph]. Retrieved from Pexels.
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    Bob McDonald, The American Red Cross

    Many CFOs can point to a major disaster or two in their careers, but Bob McDonald measures his performance by them. As CFO of the American Red Cross, he has confronted the most daunting 12-month period in the organization’s history: beginning with the Florida hurricanes of 2004, a series of world...

    By Lori Calabro • Dec. 28, 2005
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    CFOs on the Move

    • M. Michele Burns will join Marsh and McLennan Cos. as executive vice president on March 1, 2006, and become chief financial officer by March 31. She succeeds Sandra Wijnberg, who announced in August her intention to resign by March. Most recently, Burns was executive vice president, chief finan...

    By Helen Shaw • Dec. 22, 2005
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    Games They Play

    Two years ago, senior executives at LandAmerica Financial Group Inc. hired a pension consultant to review the investment options in the company’s 401(k) plan. The reason? Managers at the title insurance company wanted an independent analysis of the investment-selection process.It was a prudent mo...

    By Randy Myers • Dec. 22, 2005
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    OPEB Shortfall Exceeds That of Pensions

    Overshadowed by all the worries about underfunded corporate pension plans, there’s another category of implicit promises that are even less adequately funded, according to Standard & Poor’s.Other post employment benefits (OPEB) mostly entail medical costs paid to retired workers. According to...

    By Stephen Taub • Dec. 19, 2005
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    House Passes Pension Measure

    The House of Representatives has passed its version of a bill that seeks to strengthen corporate pension plans.Now House members must meet with the Senate, which passed its own bill last month, to hammer out a compromise measure. Discussions are not expected to take place until early next year, a...

    By Stephen Taub • Dec. 16, 2005
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    CFOs on the Move

    • Chief financial officer Alan Bergman was promoted to president of The Walt Disney Studios. Bergman joined the Burbank, California-based company in 1996 as a director in the corporate controller’s group; he became CFO in 2001.• Paul McDonough, executive vice president and chief financial officer...

    By Lisa Yoon • Dec. 16, 2005
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    Benefit Cuts Are Job One at Ford, GM

    Ford Motor Co. announced that it will freeze the amount of money it spends on health care for white-collar retirees and require salaried employees to pay more of their health-care costs, according to The Wall Street Journal.The newspaper added that the United Auto Workers announced an agreement w...

    By Stephen Taub • Dec. 15, 2005
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    C-suite Churn Continues

    The revolving door in the executive suite revolved a little faster last month.Management turnover in November was the highest for any month this year, according to Liberum Research, which keeps score of high-level changes at public companies.Indeed, November marked the sixth consecutive month of ...

    By Stephen Taub • Dec. 13, 2005
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    Enron Traders Must Return $20 Million

    About 40 former Enron Corp. traders have been ordered by a bankruptcy judge to relinquish $20 million in bonuses they received just prior to the energy company’s bankruptcy filing, according to the Houston Chronicle.U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert McGuire ruled the bonuses were fraudulent and improp...

    By Stephen Taub • Dec. 13, 2005
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    Dantes, Edmond. "Man and Woman Sitting on Chair Using Laptop" [Photograph]. Retrieved from Pexels.
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    CFOs on the Move

    • General Motors Corp. chief financial officer John Devine, whose five-year contract expires this month, is being replaced by Frederick “Fritz” Henderson, effective January 1. Devine joined GM with much fanfare in December 2000 after having retired from Ford Motor Co. as an executive vice preside...

    By Lisa Yoon • Dec. 9, 2005
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    At GM, Henderson to Replace CFO Devine

    Financially strapped General Motors Corp. is changing finance chiefs.John Devine, whose five-year contract expires this month, is out. He is being replaced by Frederick “Fritz” Henderson, chairman of GM Europe and a group vice president, who will take over as vice chairman and chief financial off...

    By Stephen Taub • Dec. 7, 2005
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    AFSCME Targets Executive Pay

    The pension plan for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, one of the most activist investor groups, has put what it deems to be excessive executive pay atop its list of shareholder concerns for the 2006 proxy season.The AFSCME plan has suggested that companies adopt ...

    By Stephen Taub • Dec. 7, 2005
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    Verizon Cuts Managers’ Pension Plan

    Verizon Communications Inc. is the latest old-line company to phase out its traditional pension plan.The telecom giant announced that beginning July 1, it will no longer offer its defined-benefit plan to management employees. The new policy affects about 50,000 individuals, according to The New Y...

    By Stephen Taub • Dec. 6, 2005
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    CFOs on the Move

    • San Jose-based power company Calpine Corp. announced that chairman, president, and chief executive officer Peter Cartwright and chief financial officer and executive vice president Robert Kelly have stepped down. The company gave no reason for the departures. But it did state in a press release...

    By Lisa Yoon • Dec. 2, 2005
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    SEC Eyes Merrill Pension Consulting Unit

    Merrill Lynch’s pension consulting unit in Florida has been subpoenaed by the Securities and Exchange Commission as part of a wider probe of possible conflicts of interest among pension advisors, The New York Times reported.“It is common knowledge that the SEC has been conducting an industrywide ...

    By Stephen Taub • Dec. 2, 2005
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    SEC General Counsel Resigns

    Another prominent official is leaving the Securities and Exchange Commission. Giovanni Prezioso, general counsel since April 2002, said he plans to return to the private sector, although he does not appear to have a new job yet. He plans to remain at the commission until early 2006 to assist with...

    By Stephen Taub • Dec. 2, 2005
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    Keeping In Touch

    When Dick Bruder founded the Cincinnati Consulting Consortium Ltd. in 1999 after working in finance at Procter & Gamble for 35 years, his earliest marketing efforts targeted his fellow P&G alumni. One of them, Robert S. Morrison, was the chairman, president, and CEO of Quaker Oats Co. at ...

    By Kate O'Sullivan • Dec. 2, 2005
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    Hi & Bye

    Why is Oracle having so much trouble hanging on to CFOs? In just over a year it has seen two of them flee — first Harry You and now Gregory Maffei, a former CFO of Microsoft. Various rumors, mostly centered on personality clashes, are circulating to explain Maffei’s short stint.A more likely expl...

    By CFO Editorial Staff • Dec. 1, 2005
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    Avoiding 401(k) Contributions Is Risky Business

    Future retiree, beware. If you don’t contribute to your 401(k) plan, you probably won’t have enough money to maintain your current lifestyle.That’s one of the findings in a new study released by Hewitt Associates. According to the research, employees who do not contribute to their 401(k) plan can...

    By Stephen Taub • Nov. 29, 2005