Dealing with Reg G

Earnings season is upon us, which means that once again it’s time to pay careful attention to “Regulation G.” In the wake of a string of high-profile corporate accounting scandals and the subsequent passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted “Reg G” in Janua...

By Kara Newman • Oct. 9, 2003

Enron Doesn’t Deliver, but in Bankruptcy It May Still Collect

Nevada-based power company Sierra Pacific Resources may be required to pay Enron for some $330 million worth of power that Enron never delivered. The two electric power units of Sierra entered into contracts with Enron Power Marketing in 2000 and 2001 — during a period of huge increases in the pr...

By Dave Cook • Oct. 7, 2003

Shareholder Reforms Fall Short, Say Treasurers

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s plan to make it easier for shareholders to elect company directors does not go far enough, according to a group of treasurers and other officials who run some of the nation’s largest pension funds.The managers insist that the rules, which the SEC is expect...

By Stephen Taub • Oct. 6, 2003

The Attorney’s Dilemma

These days, executives have plenty of reasons to seek out the sage advice of corporate counsel. But whether or not they will feel comfortable enough to actually ask for that advice is another matter.Indeed, some experts insist that the Securities and Exchange Commission’s new rules governing atto...

By Craig Schneider • Oct. 1, 2003

When the Saints Come Marching In

As they attempt to rise from the ashes of their recent fraud debacles, several companies are lining up squeaky-clean new board members in hopes of regaining investors’ trust.For example, Dennis Beresford, former Financial Accounting Standards Board chief, and former U.S. Attorney General Nicholas...

By CFO Editorial Staff • Oct. 1, 2003

Whistle-Blower Woes

When Matthew Whitley was laid off from his job last March as a finance manager at The Coca-Cola Co., along with about 1,000 other employees, he didn’t take it lying down. Two months later, Whitley approached his former employer seeking a whopping settlement—$44.4 million—on the grounds that he ha...

By Alix Stuart • Oct. 1, 2003

SEC Targets Enron’s Lay as Trials Begin

The Securities and Exchange Commission sought a court order Monday requiring former Enron chairman Kenneth Lay to produce documents related to the agency’s probe of the fallen energy giant.In the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the SEC filed a subpoena enforcement action accusin...

By Marie Leone and Stephen Taub • Sept. 30, 2003

Mold Spreads

Once upon a time, mold was a problem at work only if you avoided cleaning the office refrigerator for too long. Lately, though, it’s becoming the hottest topic in property/casualty insurance, as lawsuits claiming health-related damages from toxic mold spread from residences to offices and other c...

By Roy Harris • Sept. 25, 2003

Walking the Beat

Skandia, the Swedish insurer and one of Europe’s oldest publicly listed companies, does not have a U.S. stock listing, nor bonds that trade there, and it ceased trading in the U.S. last year after the sale of American Skandia to Prudential for about $1 billion. Yet, the SKr75 billion (E8 billion)...

By Tony McAuley • Sept. 22, 2003

Former Merrill Executives Charged in Enron Case

Three former Merrill Lynch investment bankers were charged with conspiracy to defraud investors for their role in a 1999 deal that allowed Enron Corp. to report a bogus $12 million profit.Robert Furst, once Merrill’s relationship manager with Enron, Daniel Bayly, former head of global investment ...

By Stephen Taub • Sept. 18, 2003

Best Practices in Investor Relations

As the investor relations function has grown more strategic and complex, IR professionals are seeking ways to measure how well they’re doing.On one hand, potential yardsticks abound for measuring overall IR success: stock price, the shareholder mix, analyst ratings, and financial metrics such as ...

By Kara Newman • Sept. 18, 2003

Former Enron Executive Pleads Guilty, Faces Prison

For the first time, a former Enron executive implicated in the scandal that toppled the energy-trading company is facing prison.Former treasurer Ben Glisan on Wednesday pled guilty to a single count of criminal conspiracy and was immediately sentenced to five years in a federal minimum-security p...

By Stephen Taub • Sept. 11, 2003

Fastow, Co-defendants to Be Tried Separately

It looks like Andrew Fastow is going solo.The indicted former Enron chief financial officer will not be tried with his two co-defendants, according to an order issued late Thursday by a Houston judge and reported by the Houston Chronicle.United States District Judge Kenneth Hoyt scheduled Fastow’...

By Stephen Taub • Sept. 8, 2003

What’s the Word on Andrew Fastow?

The Houston Chronicle has called on a local court to make public its criminal case against three former Enron executives, including former chief financial officer Andrew Fastow.On Tuesday the newspaper asked the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to order Houston-based U.S. District Judge Kenneth ...

By Stephen Taub • Sept. 4, 2003

Sticker Shock

Bill Teuber prickles a bit at the notion that the landmark Sarbanes-Oxley legislation has forced major reforms within EMC Corp. “I think about internal controls all the time; I didn’t need the law to get me to think about them,” says the CFO of the $5.4 billion information-storage giant. For the ...

By Alix Stuart • Sept. 1, 2003

Bring Me Your Powerless Masses

What is the greatest technological advance of the past 100 years? That was the question considered recently by America’s National Academy of Engineering. Some said the light bulb or the television; others the telephone, the computer or perhaps the internet. In fact, the experts picked an achievem...

By Economist Staff • Aug. 22, 2003

You Have the Right to an Attorney

Signing off on a company’s financial results is one more good reason that CFOs might seek out the sage advice of corporate counsel. Whether they will feel comfortable enough to ask for that advice is another matter.Under a Securities and Exchange Commission rule that went into effect August 5, in...

By Craig Schneider • Aug. 20, 2003

Riding That Chain

Here’s something that Liam Casey knows about logistics in China that you probably don’t. The People’s Republic is the only country in the world where customs officials want to know precisely the quantity of raw materials used in that component you are trying to export. Manufacturers on the mainla...

By Arthur Clennam • Aug. 7, 2003

Fiduciaries Face Rising Insurance Costs

It’s becoming very expensive to serve as a fiduciary in this brave new world of Sarbanes-Oxley.Insurance premiums for certain lines of fiduciary liability coverage have surged as much as 500 percent, according to the most recent RIMS Benchmark Survey.Fiduciary liability insurance includes coverag...

By Stephen Taub • Aug. 5, 2003

PCAOB Can’t Bark, Suggests Crafty Way to Bite

Under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) cannot publicly reveal problems it uncovers at an accounting firm if the firm fixes the problems within 12 months. To say the least, this is not a popular feature among investors who want to know about sloppy audi...

By Stephen Taub and Craig Schneider • Aug. 4, 2003

Who Rules Accounting?

Dennis Beresford is having flashbacks these days, and they are anything but pleasant. Congress is once again trying to derail the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s efforts to require companies to expense stock options. And for the former FASB chairman, the lawmakers’ moves are a painful remi...

By Craig Schneider • Aug. 1, 2003

SEC Study Endorses Principles-Based Accounting

The Securities and Exchange Commission has prepared a staff study that supports the adoption of a principles-based accounting system. This approach relies more on broadly applied principles and less on specific, detailed rules.The SEC staff study, prepared by the Office of the Chief Accountant an...

By Stephen Taub • July 29, 2003

FCC Rule on Media Ownership Blocked by House

Coming to C-SPAN this summer: a new version of reality TV. Last week lawmakers approved a bill — in the face of a veto threat from the Bush Administration — that would block a new Federal Communications Commission rule allowing broadcast companies to own television stations that reach a greater p...

By Craig Schneider • July 28, 2003

Proxy Battle Shaping Up — at the SEC

Last week, staff members of the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a report recommending that the agency change its proxy process to aid shareholders with nominating and electing board directors.The report recommends that the commission require companies to make greater disclosure of the n...

By Craig Schneider and Alix Stuart • July 21, 2003

House Panel Approves Bill to Boost SEC

A bill to strengthen the Securities and Exchange Commission’s enforcement powers is one step closer to becoming law. But some critics say the proposal will trample on the power of state regulators.On Thursday, the House Financial Services Capital Markets Subcommittee approved H.R. 2179, the Secur...

By Stephen Taub and Craig Schneider • July 14, 2003