Building a Case for Macy’s and Just Eat Takeaway’s Spinoffs

Activist investors targeted both Macy’s and Just Eat Takeaway N.V. this October. The investor proposals strongly suggested each company should execute a spinoff: in the case of Macy’s, its e-commerce unit; for Just Eat Takeaway, its newly acquired U.S. operation, Grubhub.The reasons were differen...

By Vincent Ryan • Oct. 26, 2021

Startups Need a Grasp of U.S. Trade Controls

Do you know there are trade laws that restrict who you can do business with and who can have access to your technology – even if it is in the United States? That’s why every startup needs a basic understanding of U.S. trade controls. Ignoring these rules can limit investment and restrict growth, ...

By Vincent Ryan • Oct. 21, 2021

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

Could a Run on Stablecoins Disrupt the Commercial Paper Market?

Stablecoins that approach a systemically important scale could come to play an important role in short-term securities markets such as commercial paper, while bringing new risks to these markets, according to a report by Fitch Ratings released on Monday.“The [U.S.-dollar denominated] reserves tha...

By Vincent Ryan • Oct. 19, 2021

Unfilled Job Openings Are Stinging Small Businesses

Any hope that U.S. small businesses would begin to see a pre-autumn turnaround in their economic fortunes was dashed on Tuesday with the release of the NFIB’s Small Business Optimism Index.The optimism index, a popular measure of small business owner sentiment, fell only 1 point for September, to...

By Vincent Ryan • Oct. 18, 2021

Crypto Exchange Bakkt Begins Trading on NYSE

Shares of institutional crypto exchange Bakkt Holdings have begun trading on the New York Stock Exchange.What Happened: Bakkt is a digital asset exchange and custodian owned by Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company of the NYSE. On Friday, the company announced that it would be going...

By Lauren Muskett • Oct. 18, 2021

Labor Shortage and Supply Disruptions Weighed on CFOs in Q3

Optimism about the U.S. economy is fading as concerns over labor availability and supply chain disruptions rise, according to a survey of U.S. finance chiefs. The CFO Survey, a collaboration of Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and the Federal Reserve Banks of Richmond and Atlanta (forme...

By Lauren Muskett • Oct. 14, 2021

A ‘Glut’ of High-Growth Companies Is Driving An IPO Market Reset

Unicorn companies have evolved from a rare occurrence to the new normal over the last decade. This has had a ripple effect on the capital markets, initially resulting in a lull in the IPO market as companies chose to stay private longer. This pipeline of private companies became filled with a sta...

By Vincent Ryan • Oct. 13, 2021

Overhauling the Finance Department for the Future

Years ago, emerging technologies and digital transformation were disrupting the world as we knew it. Now, the pandemic has strengthened and accelerated these forces — quickly reshaping what it means to operate a successful finance organization.A new report from Deloitte looks to the year 2025 — s...

By Mike Danitz • Oct. 12, 2021

Stimulus Programs, Lender Generosity Keeping Bankruptcies at Bay

The pace of bankruptcy filings in 2021 is at 10-year lows, as federal stimulus money and lender forbearance efforts keep financially strapped businesses from heading to the courts to restructure their debts.According to the American Bankruptcy Institute, commercial bankruptcy filings during the f...

By Vincent Ryan • Oct. 12, 2021

Emerson to Merge Software Units With AspenTech

Emerson Electric aims to merge two of its software businesses, OSI  and Geological Simulation Software, with Aspen Technology in an $11 billion deal. The cash-and-stock transaction values the new company at $160 a share, the Wall Street Journal reports.The purchase price represents a 27% premium ...

By Lauren Muskett • Oct. 11, 2021

U.S. Adds Only 194,000 Jobs in September

U.S. employers added jobs at the slowest rate of the year in September, dashing hopes of a resurgence as the coronavirus pandemic continued to weigh on the labor market.The Labor Department reported Friday that the economy added 194,000 jobs last month, the smallest net gain since December 2020 a...

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 8, 2021

Tesla to Move HQ From California to Texas

Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced Thursday that the automaker is joining the exodus of Silicon Valley tech companies to Texas.Tesla will move its headquarters from Palo Alto, Calif., to Austin, Texas, Musk said at the company’s annual shareholder meeting, following through on a threat he made more th...

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 8, 2021

McConnell Offer Appears to Lift Debt Stalemate

The U.S. Senate appeared on Wednesday to be moving toward ending its stalemate over raising the federal borrowing deficit, averting at least temporarily a debt default.Democratic senators indicated they would accept a proposal by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to raise the debt limit unti...

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 7, 2021

IMF Sees Inflation Easing, Upside Risks

The International Monetary Fund expects headline consumer inflation to ease by mid-2022 to pre-pandemic levels but upside risks including prolonged supply shortages could result in “significantly higher” prices.IMF’s baseline forecast shows headline inflation for advanced economies peaking at 3.6...

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 6, 2021

U.S. Trade Deficit Hits Record $73.3B

The U.S. trade deficit rose to a new record in August amid strong demand for imported consumer goods and industrial supplies.The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that the trade gap surged 4.2% to $73.3 billion, beating economists’ expectations of a $70.5 billion deficit. The previous record w...

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 5, 2021

Sun Life Boosts U.S. Business With DentaQuest Buy

Canadian insurer Sun Life has agreed to buy DentaQuest for $2.48 billion in a move that will allow it to enter the underserved market for publicly-funded dental benefits in the U.S.DentaQuest is one of the largest providers of Medicaid dental benefits in the U.S., servicing more than 33 million m...

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 4, 2021

Five9 Shareholders Scotch $14B Sale to Zoom

Five9 shareholders have rejected the $14.7 billion sale of the call center software firm to Zoom Video Communications, forcing the companies to abandon a deal that would have enabled Zoom to expand beyond its remote conferencing business.The demise of the all-stock deal came after proxy advisory ...

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 1, 2021

IPO Activity Slows in Q3 to $94.6B in Proceeds

Global IPO activity cooled off this summer after a scorching second quarter but deals for the year so far are being made at a record pace.Data from both Refinitiv and EY showed a sequential decline in activity, with Refinitiv reporting that IPOs in the third quarter raised a total of about $94.6 ...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 30, 2021

Consumer Confidence Dips on Delta Spread

U.S. consumer confidence dipped to a seven-month low in September as optimism over the economy cooled with the continued COVID-19 surge.The Conference Board said its Consumer Confidence Index fell to 109.3 last month from 115.2 in August, the third straight monthly decline. Economists polled by R...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 29, 2021

SEC Gives Bond Dealers 3-Month Reprieve

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has delayed implementation of a rule revision intended to protect investors from “pump and dump” schemes amid concerns over its potential impact on the bond markets.The amendments to Exchange Act Rule 15c2-11, which the SEC adopted a year ago, were due ...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 27, 2021

GE Buys BK Medical in $1.4B Ultrasound Bet

General Electric said Thursday it will buy BK Medical for $1.45 billion to expand its ultrasound business from diagnostics to surgical imaging.BK Medical, owned by healthcare investment firm Altaris Capital Partners, makes imaging devices that allow physicians to see inside the body in real-time ...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 23, 2021

Fed Signals Bond-Buying Taper Coming Soon

The U.S. Federal Reserve kept interest rates at near zero but signaled it is ready to start winding down its emergency economic stimulus program.The central bank’s monthly purchases of government-backed securities have helped to support the economy since the depths of the COVID-19 crisis. But aft...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 23, 2021

OECD Urges Caution on Easing Fiscal Support

Governments and central banks should not rush into withdrawing emergency support for their economies, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has warned, citing “sizable uncertainty” about the recovery from the pandemic.In its latest Interim Economic Outlook, the OECD said the w...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 22, 2021

U.S. Bancorp to Buy MFUG Union Unit for $8B

U.S. Bank’s parent company has agreed to buy MUFG Union Bank’s consumer business for $8 billion in a move to expand its presence on the West Coast.The acquisition will increase U.S. Bank’s loans and deposits by about 20% and improve its market share in California to 5th place from 10th. Most of M...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 22, 2021

Probe Faults World Bank Over China Ranking

Top World Bank officials including then-Chief Executive Kristalina Georgieva unduly pressured staff to alter data in the bank’s Doing Business report to placate China, a major shareholder, according to an internal investigation.Investigators from the law firm Wilmer Hale said Georgieva, who is no...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 17, 2021