Changing course: ahold to repay debt, tighten controls.

Ahold, the food retailer burned by accounting scandals last year, will repay 920 million euros ($1.13 billion) in debt early and tighten its financial controls to prevent any kind of a repeat, the company said in April. The world's third-largest food retailer narrowly escaped financial collapse last year after revealing a massive profit overstatement, mainly at a U.S. subsidiary.

Ahold is setting up a "Business Control for Retail" function to support and challenge the retail units in reviews and analysis of actual performance and future plans, according to a Reuters report. It will also have company-wide responsibility for the coordination of Ahold's real estate strategies and capital budgeting process.

Brian Hotarek, currently CFO for Ahold's U.S. retail arm, has been appointed as chief business controlling officer. Joost Sliepenbeek, currently senior vice president and controller, has been appointed chief accounting officer, with overall responsibility for accounting and reporting.

"These appointments support Ahold's overall strategic ambitions, particularly with regard to its business initiatives, and improvements to the company's control environment and also to ensure reliable and transparent financial reporting," said Ahold Chief Financial Officer Hannu Ryopponen.