Europeans Target Inflation, not Slowdown

European officials seem more interested in checking inflation than heading off a recession, as U.S. officials are doing. European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet seemed to indicate that it is more important to hold interest rates at their current level than lower them to stimulate the ...

By Stephen Taub • April 4, 2008

Business Outlook Survey

After months of steady decline, the economic outlook cannow only be described as bleak. Speakingat CFO’s annual CFO Rising conference lastmonth, veteran finance chief Jerry Yorksaid, “It’s going to be a very bad recession,perhaps the worst I’ve seen in the 46 yearsI’ve been working.” A majority o...

By Kate O'Sullivan • April 1, 2008

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

View from China

Aluminum Corp. of China (Chinalco), China’s biggest aluminum maker and a diversified metallic and mining company, won instant fame when it orchestrated a successful dawn raid on February 1, acquiring 12 percent of Australian miner Rio Tinto for $14.05 billion. By far the largest overseas deal by ...

By Wu Chen • April 1, 2008

One Standard, Many Laws

When he wanted to reprint U.S. accounting standards in a textbook he was writing, Lawrence Cunningham, a professor of accounting and law at George Washington University, was told he would have to pay. That’s because the Financial Accounting Standards Board holds copyright to its pronouncements — ...

By Alan Rappeport • April 1, 2008

Small Biz, Big Concerns

Just because Jim Smith oversees the finances at a private company doesn’t mean he’s immune to the rules and regulations specifically designed for his colleagues at publicly traded companies.In fact, Smith, the CFO of Phonon Corp., has also felt the same sting of higher audit fees that public comp...

By Sarah Johnson • March 31, 2008

For CFOs, Green Is the Color of Money

Sustainability issues are moving from a risk management focus to a revenue generation opportunity. That is, executives are moving away from a defensive posture, based on mitigating environmental cleanup, legal, and reputational risks, and taking the offensive, said several CFOs who addressed the ...

By Marie Leone • March 27, 2008

End Looks Near for Carlyle Capital

Carlyle Capital Corp. rocked the financial world Thursday when it announced it was unable to reach an agreement with its lenders and that the lenders are likely to take possession of its remaining assets.The company’s only current portfolio assets are U.S. government agency Triple-A rated reside...

By Stephen Taub • March 13, 2008

Darkness Visible: CFOs See Recession Through 2009

The news is getting grim. Optimism among U.S. CFOs has plummeted this quarter, with three-quarters of them predicting a recession at some point during 2008. Even grimmer: They expect inflation will rise to 3 percent this year. Grimmest: Nearly 90 percent say the economy will not rebound until 200...

By David Katz • March 12, 2008

U.S. Open

South-east of Los Angeles and known as one of America’s most dangerous cities, Compton is not the first place you would expect to see British royalty. But last month Prince Andrew — the Duke of York and the UK’s “special representative” for trade and industry — made the visit. The reason was to a...

By Tim Burke • March 3, 2008

They Don’t Like Surprises

Faulty forecasts have been the downfall of many CFOs. Last year, two telecom giants, Motorola and Ericsson, saw their CFOs depart amid massive cuts in revenue projections (Motorola) and unpleasant surprises regarding profits and share price (Ericsson).Despite the heavy toll exacted when investors...

By Alan Rappeport • March 1, 2008

Thriller

“If the federal government were a private corporation and the same report came out this morning, our stock would be dropping and there would be talk about whether the company’s management and directors needed a major shake-up.” That was David M. Walker, comptroller general of the United States an...

By Edward Teach • March 1, 2008

Skin in the Game

When James Lawrence left General Mills to become CFO of Unilever last September, investors hoped he would help boost the Dutch consumer-products giant’s lagging stock price. What they probably didn’t expect was that he would use his own money to do so. In two transactions spanning four months, th...

By Alix Stuart • March 1, 2008

As the World Churns

Turnover has long been been a hallmark of the top finance job, and 2007 was no exception. The 2,313 CFO changes at public companies marked just a slight increase from 2006’s rate, but reshaped the executive suites of some of the country’s best-known businesses. Pfizer, Citigroup, and McDonald’s —...

By Kate O'Sullivan • March 1, 2008

Offshoring Spreads Its Wings

During the last U.S. Presidential campaign, offshoring was a particularly touchy subject. Candidates denounced “Benedict Arnold CEOs” for sending U.S. jobs offshore, while CNN anchor Lou Dobbs kept a disapproving tally of companies with offshore operations. This time around, even with the economy...

By Kate O'Sullivan • March 1, 2008

View from Europe: Labor Lackings

For the first time in a long while long while, unemployment levels have begun to fall across Europe. Broadly speaking, of course, higher employment is a good thing, but European companies are facing a massive shortage of skilled labor. Some companies had hoped that the recent expansion of the Eur...

By Janet Kersnar • March 1, 2008

India’s Turn?

In less than six months, property developer QuarkCity is expected tocomplete its specialeconomic zone (SEZ) in Mohali, a district in theIndian state of Punjab. “Frankly, we paid more thanthe market rate,” says Fred Ebrahimi, QuarkCity’schairman, talking about land acquisitions. “In myopinion, if ...

By Oliver Jones and Uday Sekhar • Feb. 29, 2008

Visa Dust-Up

Asian companies looking to build their businesses in the United States havelong complainedthat Washington imposes an unfair block by a miserly issuance of H1-B visas.But another, lesser-knowntype of visa has become the cause of complaints in the other direction, viaAmerican politicians who charge...

By Tom Leander • Feb. 29, 2008

Dropped Call: Sprint Has $29.5B Q4 Loss

Sprint Nextel Corp. reported a fourth quarter loss of $29.5 billion, reflecting a noncash goodwill impairment charge of $29.7 billion. The flood of red ink represents the fifth-largest loss recorded by a Standard & Poor’s 500 company since 1990, according to Bloomberg News. The embattled tele...

By Stephen Taub • Feb. 28, 2008

Warning: The Economy Stinks

More ominous warnings about the state of the economy have emerged in the past few days from a variety of sources. On Monday, the National Association for Business Economics warned that U.S. economic growth will slow to less than one percent in the first half of 2008. Almost half of the NABE’s pa...

By Stephen Taub • Feb. 25, 2008

Harder to Hide

The massive Siemens bribery scandal — involving alleged payments togovernment officials around the world — continuesto ensnare company officials. The latest victim is the newCFO of the company’s industry division, whose appointment wasrevoked after company officials reviewed prosecution documents...

By Don Durfee • Feb. 15, 2008

Olympics Create Inventory Hurdles for TV Maker

A high-definition TV maker will file its second-quarter results late, while it evaluates its accounting treatment following the delayed build-out of the 2008 Beijing Olympic facilities.Syntax-Brillian Corp. had sold a large number of LCD TVs through its distributors in China. But these TVs have n...

By Stephen Taub • Feb. 11, 2008

GE Finance Unit to Hop the Pond

General Electric is moving the headquarters of its consumer and small-business financial-services unit from Connecticut to London.A senior GE official told The Financial Times that the relocation of GE Money “is emblematic of the globalization” of its business. The unit racks up $25 billion in re...

By Stephen Taub • Feb. 8, 2008

Germany to Nokia: Give Back Subsidies

A state government in Germany wants a refund from Nokia. State officials are asking the giant Finnish cell-phone maker to give back $60 million in subsidies for a decade-old manufacturing plant it plans to close, according to the Associated Press.In the late 1990s, the North Rhine-Westphalia gove...

By Stephen Taub • Feb. 6, 2008

Four Settle Dow Jones Insider Case

Four Hong Kong residents, including a former Dow Jones board member, have agreed to pay $24 million to settle Securities and Exchange Commission insider-trading charges stemming from Dow Jones’ acquisition by News Corp.The SEC alleges that David Li Kwok Po, chairman and CEO of the Bank of East As...

By Stephen Taub • Feb. 5, 2008

Break Through

Despite its striking red and silver pattern and a scroll-like shape that pays homage to China’s invention of paper, the Beijing-bound Olympic torch that leaves Greece next month looks essentially like any other Olympic torch. But there’s more to it than meets the eye. The torch, which will travel...

By Tim Burke • Feb. 4, 2008