Florida CPA Accused of Faulty Audits of 8 Firms

A Florida-based CPA’s audits of eight publicly-traded companies were so deficient they amounted to “no audits at all,” the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has alleged.The regulator on Thursday charged Terry L. Johnson, 56, with securities fraud, alleging numerous audit deficiencies includ...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 18, 2015

Fitch Warns of Anheuser-Busch Debt Downgrade

Anheuser-Busch InBev’s bonds would likely be downgraded below investment grade if the Brussels-based brewer bought SABMiller using only debt, according to Fitch Ratings.ABI on Wednesday confirmed it had approached London-based SABMiller’s board about a combination of the two companies, but that n...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Sept. 18, 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

EU Widens Corporate Tax Investigation

Now that all countries within the European Union are cooperating, regulators are widening their investigation into alleged sweetheart tax deals with companies, a Wall Street Journal article said Thursday.EU Commissioner Margrethe Vestager told European lawmakers at a hearing on Thursday that all ...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Sept. 17, 2015

Dole Buyout Case Attracts Scrutiny of Financial Projections

Plaintiffs’ lawyers will apply greater scrutiny to financial projections and earnings guidance prepared during buyout talks as a result of a recent court case involving Dole Foods’ freeze-out merger. In light of the decision, CFOs must anticipate that their projections and guidance will be twiste...

By Gardner Davis • Sept. 17, 2015

Group Calls For SEC Chair’s Recusal On PCAOB Decision

The Center for Effective Government is calling for U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary Jo White to recuse herself from choosing the next head the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, because White’s husband sits on the board’s advisory group.While the position is unpaid, it g...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Sept. 17, 2015

Fed Says Economy Still Not Ready for Rate Hike

The U.S. Federal Reserve decided on Thursday to further delay an interest-rate hike, indicating it still does not believe the economy has recovered enough from the Great Recession to begin “normalizing financial policy.”The financial markets had been abuzz at the possibility that the Fed would an...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 17, 2015

IRS Taking Tougher Stance on Some Spinoffs

The Internal Revenue Service will no longer rubber stamp corporate spinoffs of real estate and other physical assets, citing “significant concerns” that companies may be disguising dividends and other taxable transactions as spinoffs to avoid paying taxes.These spinoffs “involve significant conce...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Sept. 16, 2015

Spinoff, Interrupted: Yahoo Dealt Setback by IRS

The Internal Revenue Service on Monday dealt another significant setback to Yahoo’s plan to spin off its $24 billion stake in Alibaba, according to The Financial Times (subscription required).The IRS did not specifically mention the Sunnyvale, Calif., company, but said that it was concerned about...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Sept. 15, 2015

Beating the Workflow Blame Game

Dear Kevin,I try to hire the best employees. Once they’re on board, I work hard to motivate them, applying what I learned in my management training. My employees don’t seem lazy, and they’re definitely smart enough to do the job, but for some reason things aren’t working. People keep making mista...

By Kevin Herring • Sept. 15, 2015

IIA Calls for Internal Auditors at All Public Companies

The Institute of Internal Auditors is urging the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to follow the example of the New York Stock Exchange and require all publicly-traded companies to have an internal audit function.The SEC in July issued a 55-page concept release proposing a set of revisions ...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 14, 2015

Chicago Netflix Tax Draws Legal Fire

Controversy was sparked last week over whether state and local governments should be able to force Internet-based companies to collect taxes when a public advocacy group sued the city of Chicago and its comptroller in an attempt to strike down the city’s 9% “amusement tax” on the use of Netflix, ...

By David Katz • Sept. 14, 2015

Marvell Stock Tumbles on Disclosure of Probe

Marvell Technology Group fell 16% on Friday — its biggest single-day decline in almost 13 years — after the beleaguered chipmaker disclosed it had launched an internal investigation of its accounting.According to a regulatory filing, the probe is focusing on “certain revenue recognition issues in...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 11, 2015

A Turn in the Weather for Economic Outlooks

U.S. finance executives continue to be frustrated by government actions affecting their costs, leery of the ups and downs in equities markets, and nervous about economic conditions overseas — especially in China.This combination appears to finally be taking its toll on business confidence, accord...

By David W. Owens • Sept. 10, 2015

BDO to Pay $2.1Million Over Deficient Audits

BDO has agreed to pay $2.1 million to settle charges that it improperly signed off on the financial statements of an employment staffing company that was implicated in a fraud scheme.The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed the charges in an administrative order Wednesday, alleging BDO a...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 9, 2015

Ex-Kit Digital CFO Accused of Accounting Fraud

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has charged the ex-CEO and ex-CFO of Kit Digital of falsifying financial statements to mislead investors about the now-bankrupt software company’s true profitability.According to the SEC, former CEO Kaleil Isaza-Tuzman, 43, and former finance chief Robi...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 9, 2015

IRS Puts Cloud Over Yahoo’s Alibaba Spinoff

Yahoo is reconsidering its spinoff of some $23 billion worth of shares in Alibaba after the Internal Revenue Service declined to rule on whether the transaction would be tax-free.According to a regulatory filing, the IRS notified Yahoo last week that it would not grant its request for a ruling on...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Sept. 9, 2015

Accounting Rife with Estimates Haunted Toshiba

Toshiba’s ongoing accounting scandal, which reached a peak on Monday, when the company announced a reported $1.9 billion earnings writedown involving fiscal periods reaching back seven years, has spotlighted a broader financial reporting problem that has bedeviled standard setters for years: how ...

By David Katz • Sept. 9, 2015

Samsung to Cut Payrolls, G&A over Slow Android Sales

Samsung Electronics is set to cut payrolls by 10% next year, and general expenses by 50%, to offset the ongoing slump in the smartphone market, sources told The Korean Economic Daily.The company recently begun downsizing its back-office operations including finance, personnel, and public relation...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Sept. 8, 2015

Nutrition Firm Charged with Not Disclosing Perks

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday charged MusclePharm with not disclosing nearly a $500,000 worth of perks bestowed upon its executives, as well as other accounting and disclosure violations.The Denver-based sports supplements and nutrition company failed to disclose roughly $244,...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Sept. 8, 2015

More Companies Self-Fund Pharmacy Benefits

As a result of the Affordable Care Act imposing cost increases on fully insured health plans, more employers, particularly large ones, are self-funding their pharmacy benefits.That’s according to United Benefits Advisors’ 2014 Health Plan Survey, which includes 9,950 employers.Survey data show th...

By David McCann • Sept. 4, 2015

Investment Firm Fined $21M for Diverting CDO Fees

Investment advisory firm Taberna Capital Management has agreed to pay $21 million to settle charges it pocketed $17 million in fees that it owed to collateralized debt obligation (CDO) clients.According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the retention of the fees was not permitted by...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 4, 2015

Banks Report Strong Second-Quarter Earnings

Loan growth is fueling healthy profits for many of the nation’s banks, but low interest rates continue to be a challenge, the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Wednesday.Commercial banks and savings institutions insured by the FDIC reported aggregate net income of $43 billion in the secon...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Sept. 2, 2015

Navistar Posts 12th Straight Quarterly Loss

Navistar investors got a double dose of bad news as the truck and engine maker reported its 12th consecutive quarterly loss and disclosed that regulators may be close to filing an enforcement action against it.The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has been investigating Navistar since July ...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Sept. 2, 2015

Metric of the Month: Budget Iterations

That cool breeze you feel isn’t the first sign of fall – it’s a collective sigh of resignation from controllers across America. Budgeting and planning season has begun again.In an ideal world, the budgeting process would be fast and painless. But for many division heads, finance teams, and CFOs w...

By Mary C. Driscoll • Sept. 2, 2015

Bob Evans to Sell and Lease Back Restaurants

Under pressure from an activist shareholder, Bob Evans Farms has announced it will sell and lease back some of its restaurant properties in a move to raise $165 million to $170 million to pay down debt and continue buying back shares.New York hedge fund Sandell Asset Management holds about 9.6% o...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 2, 2015