SEC Seeks Lobbying Records From Navistar

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has asked for a court order requiring Navistar to turn over information that it says “bears directly” on whether the engine maker made false statements to investors.The SEC has been investigating Navistar since July 2012 in connection with statements th...

By Matthew Heller • Feb. 2, 2015

Writedowns Coming from Venezuela Exposures

Currency issues arising from Venezuela’s worsening economic crisis could force at least 40 major U.S. companies including GM and Merck to take billions of dollars of writedowns, Reuters reports.The companies, all members of the S&P 500, carry at least $11 billion of monetary assets in the Ven...

By Matthew Heller • Feb. 2, 2015

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

Earnings Mixed for Large Banks in Q4

Fourth-quarter 2014 earnings for the 17 largest U.S. banks were mixed as revenue growth continued to be hurt by low interest rates and relatively modest loan growth, putting pressure on spread income, Fitch Ratings reports.Large regional and trust and processing banks posted fairly good results, ...

By Matthew Heller • Feb. 2, 2015

Obama Wants to Tap Overseas Earnings

As part of his $4 trillion budget proposal, President Barack Obama is seeking a one-time $238 billion corporate tax on foreign earnings that would, in turn, be used to fund repairs and improvements to roads, bridges, transit systems, and freight networks.A Reuters story on Sunday says Obama’s pro...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Feb. 2, 2015

Six Cash-Saving Tips for Deferred Compensation Plans

Offering a basic deferred compensation plan is like having a 950-horsepower Ferrari and moseying down the highway at 5 mph. Most employers simply don’t take advantage of the added value that these flexible plans can provide at little or no extra cost.John L. Sanford A typical nonqualified deferre...

By John L. Sanford • Feb. 2, 2015

Are Audit Committees Overworked?

Corporate audit committees “can’t do it all,” but they are increasingly asked to do so, according to a KPMG survey of 1,500 audit committee members released Thursday.The annual survey cited the increasing difficulty of audit committees being asked to oversee major risks such as cyber security; a ...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Jan. 30, 2015

Multinationals Avoid $12B a Year in Repatriation Taxes

U.S.-based multinational corporations are using complex merger deals to avoid paying taxes on $12 billion a year in taxable foreign earnings that they repatriate back to the U.S., according to a new study.U.S. multinationals are required to pay U.S. corporate income taxes upon repatriation of for...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 30, 2015

Amazon Unveils Corporate Email Service

Amazon is moving into the office email business, unveiling a new cloud-based product called WorkMail that will compete with market leader Microsoft.WorkMail will be released in the second quarter of this year by Amazon Web Services, the company’s IT services unit. It allows users to send and rece...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 30, 2015

Obama Fires Salvo in Looming Budget Fight

President Barack Obama’s fiscal 2016 budget will reverse the automatic budget cuts known as sequestration and propose a 7% increase in spending above those limits, according to White House officials.The budget plan, which the White House intends to unveil on Monday, would fund a host of programs ...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 29, 2015

China Expects Tech Companies to Disclose Source Code

U.S. business groups have called for “urgent discussions” with China over a new cyber-security standard requiring U.S. companies selling technology to Chinese banks to disclose secret source code and submit to intrusive audits.The new cyber-security rules for tech vendors were recently proposed f...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 29, 2015

U.S. Among Most Vulnerable to Climate-Change Risks

Supply chains in Europe and Japan are far ahead of those in the rest of the world (including the United States) in their preparations for climate change risks and natural disasters, according to research released Tuesday by CDP (formerly called Carbon Disclosure Project) and Accenture.The researc...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Jan. 29, 2015

S Corp. Flap Could Strap Tax Reform Efforts

Late last year, Rep. Paul Ryan, the Wisconsin Republican who in January 2015 took over as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, paid tribute to Rep. Dave Camp, Ryan’s immediate predecessor. “Among the big marks that he made, tax reform is arguably the biggest,” Ryan told The Washington ...

By David Katz • Jan. 29, 2015

Global Mobility Fails to Deliver Desired ROI

Most companies don’t think they’re getting a sufficient return on investment from sending employees abroad, new PricewaterhouseCoopers research reveals. But apparently they also think there’s opportunity ahead, as a vast majority of companies plan to do more of it in the near future.Only 42% of t...

By David McCann • Jan. 28, 2015

Will Alibaba Eventually Buy Yahoo Spinoff?

Bloomberg View columnist Matt Levine Tuesday very tongue in cheek described why Yahoo is creating a spin-off company holding its $40 billion worth of Alibaba shares: Yahoo could possibly later sell the spin-off to Alibaba and also perhaps so Yahoo could avoid the temptation to sell the shares now...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Jan. 28, 2015

FTC Highlights Privacy Risks of ‘Internet of Things’

While Internet-connected devices provide many benefits, they raise numerous privacy and security concerns that companies who develop them need to address, the Federal Trade Commission warns in a new report.According to the FTC, there are now more than 25 billion connected devices in use worldwide...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 28, 2015

Strong Dollar Deflates Earnings

Multinational companies with significant foreign revenue streams are posting reduced earnings as the U.S. dollar surges, according to a Bloomberg story Tuesday.Procter & Gamble said that net income fell 31%, to $2.37 billion, or 82 cents a share, for its fiscal second quarter ending Dec. 31. ...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Jan. 27, 2015

Durable Goods Down; Home Sales, Confidence Up

Which way is the U.S. economy headed? Data released Tuesday conveyed a mixed message about the direction and strength of economic growth.Non-defense capital goods orders, excluding aircraft, fell 0.6% in December, the Commerce Department said, after economists had expected a 0.5% gain, according ...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Jan. 27, 2015

UPS Profit Hit By Costs of ‘High Quality’ Holiday Service

UPS’ improved performance over the holiday season has turned out to be a double-edged sword. Although it delivered about 98% of express packages on time on Dec. 24, avoiding a repeat of the delivery problems of a year earlier, the improvement came at a cost to its bottom line.The company announce...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 26, 2015

SEC Official Sees ‘Positive Change’ in Private Equity Firms

Private equity firms have remedied some of their “more objectionable” deficiencies but more enforcement actions may be brought against them, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission official.The SEC, which started monitoring the $3.8 trillion private equity market, said in May it ha...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 23, 2015

Home Construction to Boost U.S. Economy in 2015?

The U.S. economy will get a boost in 2015 from residential construction, with mortgage rates near record lows, an improving job market and gradually easing credit standards fueling the industry’s best year since 2007, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists.One economist predicted home cons...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 22, 2015

Where to Look for Global Growth

For the last 50 years, the world economy has benefited from a demographic boom that has contributed 1.8% to average annual global GDP increases, helping to generate an unprecedented level of growth. This demographic headwind is coming to an end. With populations aging and fertility rates dropping...

By Jonathan Woetzel, Richard Dobbs, and Jaana Remes • Jan. 22, 2015

Leasing Firm Parlays Big Data Into Sales

Brian Holland, the CFO and president of Fleet Advantage, a truck leasing and big data firm, was trying to put his finger on what it means to be a finance chief at the kind of fast-growing, sales-driven companies that have employed him over his more than 20-year career. And then he thought of some...

By David Katz • Jan. 21, 2015

Adoption of Clawbacks Tied to Earnings Manipulation

The benefits of the Dodd-Frank Act provision allowing “clawbacks” of incentive compensation paid to corporate executives may come with an unintended consequence that is adverse to investors, according to a new study.The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has yet to implement the clawback man...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 21, 2015

Lowe’s Case Highlights Worker Misclassification Lessons

Misclassification of workers continues to be a headache for employers, with a judge recently approving a $6.5 million settlement of a class-action lawsuit brought by home improvement contractors against Lowe’s Home Centers.The plaintiffs in the case performed renovation services for Lowe’s custom...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 20, 2015

Currency Trader Faces Onerous Loan Terms

Currency trader FXCM is saved, but at what price?FXCM on Monday released details of its $300 million loan with Leucadia National Corp., owner of investment bank Jefferies Group LLC, that would enable the New York-based firm to regain its footing after the events of last week. The details of the l...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Jan. 20, 2015