Table of Contents
REGULATORY AND LEGISLATIVE UPDATES
· Hearings, Hearings Everywhere
· Unemployment to ’Remain Elevated’
· The Fed Proposes Rules and Requirements on NonBank Financial Companies
· Today’s FASB Board Meeting
· FEI CCR Comments on FASB Effective Dates
· FASB, IASB Release Proposals on Netting (Offsetting)
· FASB, IASB Seek Feedback on Converged Solution to Impairment
· Monitoring Board Seeks Comment on IFRS Foundation Governance
· FASB, IASB Joint Meeting
· Additional FASB, IASB News
· COSO Wants You
NEWS TO USE
· FEI Comments on IFRS Strategy Review
FERF UPDATE
· Financial Executive Compensation Survey 2011 - Deadline extended
· Disclosure Complexity Survey
· How Do You View the Current Job Market?
· CFO Quarterly Outlook Report: January 2011
· Thank You to FERF Corporate Contributors!
WEBCASTS
· Data Directed Health Trend Management
· Advice for the Trenches: Running Finance in the Cloud
· Managing Uncertainty and Driving Strategy in 2011
· Conserve Corporate Capital and Reduce Risk – The Best Practice Alternative to Car Fleets and Allowance Programs
CONFERENCES & EVENTS
· FEI’s 2011 Leadership Summit – Register now and SAVE $200!
FEI Committee Meetings
February
· Committee on Government Business (CGB)
· Committee on Taxation (COT)
· Committee on Private Company Policy (CPC-P)
March
· Committee on Corporate Reporting (CCR)
· Private Company Congressional Fly-in
· Committee on Finance and IT (CFIT)
· Committee on Benefits Finance (CBF)
April
· Committee on Taxation (COT)
· Private Company Roundtable (PCR)
FEI JOB LISTINGS
· Job ID: 21464– Client Controller
WELCOME TO OUR NEW MEMBERS!
RESOURCES
REGULATORY AND LEGISLATIVE UPDATES
Hearings, Hearings Everywhere
Considering the start of the new 112th Congress and the GOP control of the House of Representatives, it has become the season for Capitol Hill hearings. Just this week, both tax-writing committees, House Ways and Means and Senate Finance, announced plans to hold hearings in the coming weeks and months. Ways and Means Chair Dave Camp (R-Mich.) plans to review President Obama’s tax and budget proposals to be released next week. Specifically, Camp is interested in looking at how the administration’s tax plan will impact pass-through entities. Finance Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) announced plans to hold a series of hearings beginning next month that will focus on corporate and individual tax reform.
To read more about the prospects of tax reform, please read here.
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Unemployment to “Remain Elevated”
Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, has publically stated that despite the biggest two-month drop in unemployment since 1958, the overall jobs outlook has unemployment remaining elevated over the long-term. Speaking before the House Budget Committee this morning, Bernanke said in part, “[job numbers] do provide some grounds for optimism, but it will be several years before the unemployment rate has returned to a more normal level.” Since May 2009, the jobless rate in the United States has remained above 9 percent, which is the longest time it has stay this high since monthly record keeping began in 1948.
To read Chairman Bernanke’s testimony from today’s House Budget Committee hearing, please click here.
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The Fed Proposes Rules and Requirements on NonBank Financial Companies
This week, the Federal Reserve issued a proposed rule aimed at implementing provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act related to designating nonbank financial companies as systemically important, requiring greater supervision. The proposal outlines the requirements for confirming if a company is “predominantly engaged in financial activities” and defines the terms "significant nonbank financial company" and "significant bank holding company." Among the factors considered when determining whether to designate a company for supervision by the Federal Reserve, is the relationship with other nonbank financial companies or bank holding companies that have been designated systemically important or that have more than $50 billion or more in assets.
To learn more about the proposed rule, please click here.
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Today’s FASB Board Meeting
Earlier today, the Financial Accounting Standards Board was slated to discuss its project on insurance contracts, considering comment letters received on its earlier proposal, and whether to pursue changes to U.S. generally accepted accounting principles for insurance contracts at this time. Additionally, the board was slated to continue its discussion of the scope of the investment properties project and discuss its project on goodwill impairment assessments. Points to be discussed can be found in today’s board handout; results will be posted in a Summary of Board Decisions in FASB’s News Center.
Last week, FASB discuss its projects on troubled debt restructuring, insurance contracts and goodwill impairment assessments. Read more details here.
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FEI CCR Comments on FASB Effective Dates
Last week, FEI’s Committee on Corporate Reporting filed a comment letter with FASB on its Discussion Paper, Effective Dates and Transition Methods. CCR letter to FASB.
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FASB, IASB Release Proposals on Netting (Offsetting)
FASB and the International Accounting Standards Board recently released proposals that would amend the requirements for netting (offsetting) balance sheet items. For more details, click here.
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FASB, IASB Seek Feedback on Converged Solution to Impairment
FASB and IASB recently released a proposal requesting feedback on the timing of credit-loss recognition on open portfolios of financial assets. The boards propose an ”effective loss” method of recording impairment of financial assets, to replace the ”incurred loss” method. The comment period ends April 1. Read more in the FEI blog and in this issue of Defining Issues, published by KPMG.
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Monitoring Board Seeks Comment on IFRS Foundation Governance
Earlier this week, the Monitoring Board of the IFRS Foundation released for public comment a report and recommendations concerning the IFRS Foundation’s governance. (The IFRS Foundation oversees IASB; the Monitoring Board consists of international securities regulators and a representative from the European Union.) The comment deadline is April 8. See press release and report.
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FASB, IASB Joint Meeting
Last week, FASB and IASB met via joint videoconference on the topics of revenue recognition, leases and insurance contracts. Read more details here.
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Additional FASB, IASB News
Read FEI’s FASB, IASB News Roundup for more news.
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COSO Wants You …
… to complete its online survey, to help the organization update its Internal Control-Integrated Framework, which was developed in 2991. The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (known as COSO, whose five sponsoring organizations include the AAA, AICPA, FEI, IIA and IMA) has extended the original Jan. 31 survey deadline to facilitate more feedback. For more details, click here.
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NEWS TO USE
FEI Comments on IFRS Strategy Review
FEI recently sent a comment letter to the IFRS Foundation on its Strategy Review. Read the letter here.
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FERF UPDATE
How Does Your Pay Stack Up Against That of Your Peers?
In its fifth year, the Financial Executive Compensation Survey 2011 is in full swing. Since this survey is completed by your peers – not human resources professionals – it will provide benchmarking information on participants’ total direct compensation packages, along with other benefits.
As a member of FEI, your participation is crucial in order to compile a viable study. The survey should only take about 15 minutes to complete. All responses are confidential and participants will remain anonymous. The results are expected to be available this spring.
>> Take the survey here – Deadline extended - - DON’T MISS OUT!
If you have questions or suggestions for improvement, please contact Tom Thompson, FERF research associate.
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Disclosure Complexity Survey
Financial statements and other disclosure requirements have increased significantly over the past decade. Some say that there is a problem around "disclosure complexity" and "disclosure overload" with financial statements, and that the cost of certain disclosure requirements exceeds the benefits derived from those disclosures. Others say that expanded disclosures are a function of increased complexity in the marketplace and that they are necessary to understand that complexity.
What do the preparers think? We want to hear from you! This opinion survey, sponsored by KPMG, should take less than 20 minutes to complete and does not require any outside research. All responses are confidential and participants will remain anonymous. The FERF Executive Report analyzing the results of this survey is expected to be available in March.
>> Take the survey here
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How Do You View the Current Job Market?
FEI members are invited to participate in ExecuNet’s 19th Annual Executive Market Survey. This brief survey asks approximately 20 questions about you, your current position and your views on the current job market.
Participants of this survey will receive:
· A free advance copy of the 2011 Executive Job Market Intelligence Report before it is released to the press and public, AND
· Your name will be entered in a drawing for one of four tickets to the prestigious HSM 2011 World Innovation Forum and the World Business Forum (a $1,500 value), both in New York, AND
· The Best of Inspiring Ideas, courtesy of survey partner HSM. This interactive
e-book offers focused commentary on key trends and issues critical to business success.
· A free three-month subscription to Gary Shilling's Insight newsletter, courtesy of survey partner Forbes.
>>Take survey here
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CFO Quarterly Outlook Report: January 2011
Chief Financial Officers in the U.S. lead CFOs in Europe in optimism, access to credit and plans for hiring new workers, according to the most recent survey of CFOs conducted by FEI and Baruch College’s Zicklin School of Business. For the first time in the survey’s history, CFOs in Italy and France were also polled this quarter for a comparison of trends between the U.S. and Europe. Despite their differences, U.S. and European CFOs share some of the same business challenges and economic worries as they kick off 2011. Executives on both sides of the globe are seeing opportunities for their local economies and businesses this year, following a difficult few years, with similar plans for capital expenditures.
>>Download full report here
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Thank You to FERF Corporate Contributors!
Our utmost THANKS and APPRECIATION to our corporate donors who generously fund FERF research! FERF Major Gift donors ExxonMobil Corporation and Microsoft Corporation, our President’s Circle Donors, along with our many corporate patrons, provide the much-needed support to produce the cutting edge research and benchmarking tools available to all FEI members. Thank you for your continued generosity – we couldn’t do it without you!
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WEBCASTS
Data Directed Health Trend Management
Presented by JW Associates
Feb. 15 | 2:30 p.m. Eastern | 1 Hour | 1 CPE credit available
Register here.
By attending this session, attendees will learn how to reduce cost through better data management and cap future costs by pre-funding the liability. Additionally, all participants should have a better understanding of how and where health care dollars are spent, what that data can tell about future costs and what data they need to compile and manage to reduce their current and future health care cost. They will also understand how the pre-funding mechanism works; including, how the trust is structured, funded, guaranteed and maintained.
Presenters for this webcast include Jeffrey L. Bemoras, PFR Trend Management; Dr. Mark Percival, Chief Executives Officer, LifeStrive® Group; and Dr. Richard Perryman, co-author of Discover Wellness at Work.
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Advice for the Trenches: Running Finance in the Cloud
Presented by Intacct
Feb. 16 | 2:00 p.m. Eastern | 1 Hour | 1 CPE credit available
Register here.
According to a recent Goldman Sachs’ study, finance is now one of the top three business functions that will most likely move operations to the cloud. Attend this webcast presentation and receive valuable advice from your peers. You’ll learn how two finance leaders have embraced cloud computing and achieved stunning results – higher ROI, lower TCO and improved operational performance.
Marc Linden, CFO at Intacct, and Sinohe Terrero, VP of Finance at Etsy, will share their real life stories from the trenches — the benefits, the challenges and the secrets of running finance in the cloud.
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Managing Uncertainty and Driving Strategy in 2011
Presented by SAP
Mar. 3 | 2:00 p.m. Eastern | 45 Minutes | No CPE credits available
Register here. If you are a member of The EIN, log into your account and browse for this webinar.
Join Cynthia Jamison for a thought-provoking discussion on how CFOs and other senior financial executives can manage and exceed their CEO’s and board’s expectations. The dialogue will focus on how the CFO’s insight into the company’s operations can drive strategic investment decisions.
Topics include:
· Moving from a “traditional” CFO role to that of “Co-CEO;”
· Transitioning from information provider to strategic insight consultant; and
· Building confidence in the CEO and board to move forward with critical decisions;
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Conserve Corporate Capital and Reduce Risk – The Best Practice Alternative to Car Fleets and Allowance Programs
Presented by Runzheimer International
Mar. 9 | 1:00 p.m. Eastern | 1 Hour | No CPE credits available
Register here.
Business driving is a necessity that brings value. However, it also increases risk and potential for a capital investment. Learn how your business vehicle program is impacting your costs, talent management and capital allocation and walk away with applicable best practices.
When’s the last time you examined your business vehicle strategy? Are you over- and/or under-paying some of your drivers? Is there a large amount of risk in your existing program? How much corporate capital is tied up in your vehicle program?
During this session you will be provided with back ground information and cost examples for various business vehicle options, enabling you to evaluate and then apply best practices to your existing program. With a potential bottom-line impact ranging up to 30 percent, executives are finding it worthwhile to re-examine their current business vehicle strategies.
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CONFERENCES & EVENTS
Register by March 7 and SAVE $200!
FEI’s 2011 Leadership Summit
Blueprint for Change: Strategies for Building Leadership Skills
Apr. 3 – 5 | Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa | Phoenix, AZ
View more details here.
The 2011 Leadership Summit is designed to bring financial leaders the blueprints and strategies to get the job done. Filled with on-point insight on new technologies, current leadership issues and emerging industry trends, this year’s Summit brings together a wide array of viewpoints and prominent financial voices including David M. Walker, former Comptroller General of the United States and Founder and CEO, Comeback America Initiative; Oracle Corp.’s Chairman, Jeffrey O. Henley; and John Brock, Chairman and CEO of Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc.
Join FEI in its commitment to connecting financial executives locally and globally by attending Summit and enjoying two days packed with dynamic, highly relevant presentations and in-depth, interactive discussions conducted by leading authorities and industry experts, plus ample networking opportunities – all at a magnificent venue: the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa.
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FEI Committee Meetings
February
Committee on Government Business (CGB)
Feb. 10-11 | Washington, D.C.
Register here.
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Committee on Taxation (COT)
Feb. 17-18 | Washington, D.C.
Register here.
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Committee on Private Company Policy (CPC-P)
Feb. 24 | Conference Call
Register here.
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March
Committee on Corporate Reporting (CCR)
Mar. 2-4 | Four Seasons Resort | Palm Beach, FL
Register here.
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Private Company Congressional Fly-In
Mar. 8-9 | Washington, D.C.
Register here.
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Committee on Finance and IT (CFIT)
Mar. 23-25 | Marriott San Jose | San Jose, Costa Rica
Register here.
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Committee on Benefits Finance (CBF)
Mar. 28 – 29 | The Aerospace Corp. | El Segundo, CA
Register here.
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April
Committee on Taxation (COT)
April 14-15 | Renaissance Washington, D.C. | Washington, D.C.
Register here.
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Private Company Roundtable (PCR)
Apr. 20 | Conference Call
Register here.
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FEI JOB LISTINGS
Job ID: 21464– Client Controller
Location: Rockville, MD
As the Premier U.S. Based Accounting and Financial Outsourcing Firm we have been helping companies succeed for over a decade by providing executives with the financial clarity they need to grow their business. We are a public accounting firm that specializes in accounting and financial outsourcing rather than audit. We put the SYSTEMS in place that routinely deliver accurate, timely, and relevant financial INFORMATION. Using our years of experience, we then offer the GUIDANCE companies need to make better business decisions and succeed.
We are searching for a proactive, disciplined and results-oriented leader with at least 7-10 years of accounting experience, including time with a public accounting firm. He/she demonstrates strong leadership, communication, management, negotiation and technical competencies. He/she also has a solid knowledge of GAAP, GAAS, can manage multiple assignments under pressure, has completed the CPA exam and holds an active license. We are looking for a qualified candidate with the desire to continually grow within the company.
For further details about this job opportunity, click here.
To view more jobs, visit FEI’s Career Center.
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WELCOME TO OUR NEW MEMBERS!
Congratulations to all the new members accepted in the last 30 days. Click here to see a complete list.
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RESOURCES AT www.financialexecutives.org
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