Siemens Denies Bribery Allegations

German engineering giant Siemens has angrily disputed a Wall Street Journal story alleging that two Siemens executives were aware of a practice in which bribes were allegedly paid to win overseas telecommunications contracts.On Tuesday, the newspaper reported that two individuals have told German...

By Stephen Taub • Jan. 23, 2007

Shanghai Police Catch 22 in Bribe Probe

The English-language Shanghai Daily reported Friday that police have detained 22 people from seven companies, including McKinsey, McDonald’s, Whirlpool, and ABB, in connection with a bribery investigation in that Chinese city.Bribes totaling about 4 million yuan (slightly more than $500,000) were...

By Stephen Taub and Helen Shaw • Jan. 19, 2007

Explore the Trendline➔

Tax policy shifts: What CFOs need to know to stay ahead

Discover how evolving tax policies are creating new opportunities and challenges for CFOs.

By CFO.com staff

CTT Proxy Fight: Do We Have a Winner?

Did a dissident group win its proxy fight with Competitive Technologies (CTT), a small technology transfer and licensing provider, at Tuesday’s annual meeting?The dissidents say yes, the current board says no, and both sides continue to solicit further votes.The Committee to Restore Stockholder V...

By Stephen Taub • Jan. 18, 2007

Ex-Siemens CFO Questioned in Probe

The former chief financial officer of engineering giant Siemens is under investigation by German prosecutors in a bribery and embezzlement probe, according to published accounts.News agency AFP reported that Heinz-Joachim Neubuerger was questioned last week about allegations he may have known abo...

By Stephen Taub • Jan. 15, 2007

HP Investigator Pleads Guilty

Bryan C. Wagner, a Littleton, Colorado-based private investigator, has taken a plea deal in the Hewlett-Packard spying scandal.Appearing Friday in a San Jose federal court, Wagner pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy and aggravated identity theft, reported Bloomberg.“He’s just the littl...

By Stephen Taub • Jan. 12, 2007

Tyco’s Kozlowski Hospitalized

Former Tyco International chairman and chief executive officer Dennis Kozlowski, now serving prison time for stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from the conglomerate, has been taken to a hospital for an apparent heart problem, according to published accounts.Kozlowski, 60, was convicted in ...

By Stephen Taub • Jan. 11, 2007

Home Depot Changes CEO Comp Policy

Heavily criticized for the hefty pay of outgoing chief executive officer Robert Nardelli, retailer Home Depot announced Monday that it has changed the approval process for CEO compensation.Company by-laws will now require that two-thirds of independent board members approve any such compensation;...

By Stephen Taub • Jan. 9, 2007

Nardelli Resigns from Home Depot

Bob Nardelli, a lightning rod for criticism of The Home Depot’s stock performance during his six-year tenure, has resigned as chairman, president, and chief executive officer of the company, effective immediately.Nardelli has also drawn heat for his huge pay packages and for the way he handled la...

By Stephen Taub • Jan. 3, 2007

Power Play

Of all the deals in 2006, the one that touched on many of the current issues in corporate finance and governance was the pitched battle for the Dutch media group VNU. Running for over a year from the summer of 2005, the VNU saga pitted “activist” shareholders against the company’s supervisory and...

By Tony McAuley • Dec. 29, 2006

Feeling the Heat

Global warming is so hot that Corporate America is seeing green.About 75 percent of respondents to an October 2006 survey by The Conference Board are measuring their carbon footprint, or the amount of direct and indirect carbon their operations emit. Half of the companies — 90 percent of which ha...

By Karen M. Kroll • Dec. 28, 2006

Boards: CEO-picking Skills Are Lacking

Even though they identify CEO succession as a leading concern, a large number of directors admit they are not equipped to choose a new chief executive officer.About 50 percent of 1400 board members surveyed at public, private and non-profit corporations consider themselves less than effective in ...

By Stephen Taub • Dec. 13, 2006

HP Settles with California AG

Hewlett-Packard has agreed to pay $14.5 million to settle civil charges of pretexting with California Attorney General Bill Lockyer. Under the deal, the computer giant, which was accused of illegally accessing phone records during its probe of boardroom leaks to the media, will finance a new law-...

By Stephen Taub • Dec. 8, 2006

SEC Probe of HP Is Formal

Hewlett-Packard says the Securities and Exchange Commission has elevated its probe into a formal investigation to look at the processes used to explore certain internal leaks of confidential information to members of the media. In addition, the computer maker has received a request from the Feder...

By Stephen Taub • Nov. 17, 2006

Can You Have Your Stock and Sell It, Too?

Add a new wrinkle to the longstanding debate about the wisdom of share-repurchase programs: claims of a conflict of interest.Companies cite many good reasons for buying back shares: the practice boosts earnings per share, it sends a signal that the companyconsiders its shares undervalued, and it ...

By Randy Myers • Nov. 1, 2006

What Are Directors Thinking?

Most directors seem to be limiting the number of boards they serve on, lately. According to a new study conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and Corporate Board Member magazine, nearly half of directors (47 percent) sit on only one public company board. Furthermore, 78 percent sit on just one ...

By Stephen Taub • Oct. 25, 2006

Marsh Changes Director Requirements

Marsh & McLennan has adopted a series of amendments aimed solely at its directors in an effort to improve the company’s governance practices. The insurance and benefits giant said directors must acquire at least $100,000 of Marsh stock within three years of joining the board. Senior executive...

By Stephen Taub • Oct. 24, 2006

Director Ties Linked to Options Scandal

Editor’s note:This story has been corrected and updated to reflect information brought to CFO.com’s attention by Novellus Systems Inc. in an October 25 response to The Corporate Library’s study, “The Spread of Options Backdating.”A company mired in the options backdating scandal is likely to have...

By Stephen Taub and Sarah Johnson • Oct. 19, 2006

Companies Could Face Charges for Spying

Last week’s congressional hearing on Hewlett-Packard’s board leaks had white-collar crime watchers wondering whether corporate spying is legal. This week, the California’s attorney general’s office may provided an answer. The attorney general is expected to seek criminal indictments against five ...

By Sarah Johnson • Oct. 4, 2006

Where Are They Now?

Where Are They Now?The outcome of five major financial-fraud trialsCompanyStatusPrison SentenceWorldComBernard Ebbers, former CEOGuilty verdict25 yearsScott Sullivan, former CFOPleaded guilty5 yearsDavid Myers, former controllerPleaded guilty1 year, 1 dayBuford Yates, former accounting directorPl...

By Joseph McCafferty • Sept. 29, 2006

Ex-HP Chair Dunn Pins Leak Probe on CFO

Former Hewlett-Packard chairman Patricia Dunn said the company’s chief financial officer, Robert Wayman, approved an investigation into boardroom leaks that has since led to the resignation of Dunn and several other directors and executives.On Thursday morning, general counsel Ann Baskins became ...

By Stephen Taub • Sept. 28, 2006

Ebbers Goes to Prison

Former WorldCom Corp. chief Bernard Ebbers reports to a Federal prison Tuesday to begin serving a 25-year prison sentence for his role in the telecom company’s $11 billion accounting fraud. He is 65 years old.According to the AP, Ebbers must serve at least 21 years and four months of his sentenc...

By Stephen Taub • Sept. 26, 2006

CA Reports All Directors Re-Elected

Score this one a major victory for CA. The software giant formerly called Computer Associates announced that according to preliminary results of voting at Monday’s shareholder meeting, all 11 directors were re-elected for one-year terms. They received between 74 percent and 98 percent of the vote...

By Stephen Taub • Sept. 18, 2006

Appeals Court Revives Proxy-Access Issue

The governance issue of proxy access for shareholders seems to have been awakened from its slumber. In a stunning decision, an appeals court ruled on Tuesday night that shareholders should be allowed to consider proposals that would let them nominate their own candidates for a company’s board, ac...

By Stephen Taub • Sept. 7, 2006

How Much is that Watchdog in the Window?

Proxy advisor Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) may be up for sale.The owners of the firm, which rates the corporate governance practices of public companies and recommends how institutional investors should vote their proxies, are seeking between $400 million and $500 million, according t...

By Stephen Taub • Sept. 6, 2006

Infosys Fines Exec for Tardy Reporting

Infosys Technologies, a Nasdaq-listed software and IT consulting company based in India, has fined one of its executives what amounts to more than one-quarter of his salary for breaking the company’s code of conduct.Srinath Batni, an executive director who heads up the Strategic Groups unit for t...

By Marie Leone • Aug. 30, 2006