Browse Sweeney, Paul

1-29 out of 29 article(s)

Title	Type	Date	Words
Whose job is corporate governance? U.S. corporations, their shareholders and the federal government are grappling over which entity should govern certain practices and procedures of businesses--corporate management, directors, investors or government laws and regulations.		May 1, 2009	3090
Hotlines helpful for blowing the whistle: required for public companies under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, corporate hotlines for whistleblowers have become a big weapon against fraud--more effective than internal audits. Yet, research shows that companies may not deem them highly effective.		May 1, 2008	2130
Will U.S. IPO swoon go global? While 2007 was a record-setting year for public stock offerings worldwide, the economic morass in the U.S. has created a far bleaker outlook for 2008. That's spurred some investors to consider alternative ways to go public.		Mar 1, 2008	2164
Going after the bad apples: forensic accountant Paul Regan cut his teeth in a fraud case against Howard Hughes, and he's become a leader in a specialized area, mostly attempting to recover money for shareholders.		Dec 1, 2007	2840
Is the easy credit party over? From euphoria and record deal levels just a few months ago, the corporate loan and bond markets are suffering something like a whopping hangover. The days of "covenant-lite" have ended as investors are shunning riskier loans and demanding tougher terms.	Cover story	Sep 1, 2007	2459
Legal niceties color backdating cases; There hasn't been a huge wave of class-action suits triggered by the scores of investigations and allegations of improper stock option backdating. One big reason: legal technicalities that make derivative suits more appropriate.		Jul 1, 2007	2123
Web-based learning gains more converts: log on and learn--that's a mantra more and more financial professionals have been repeating. Web-based tools make sense in many ways and many settings. But don't expect live learning to disappear soon.		May 1, 2007	1906
Private equity hitting warp speed: buoyed by a flood of investments seeking higher returns, private equity firms are busily doing buyouts and even joining forces for huge deals. And, there appears to be no let-up in the mega-deals trend this year.		Mar 1, 2007	2167
Delivering evidence: not just the mail; The FBI and state attorneys general usually get the credit for ferreting out financial fraud. But there's an elite unit that doesn't get much notice--and they work for the U.S. Postal Service.		Dec 1, 2006	2074
Plugging the funding gap.		Sep 1, 2006	2173
Quest for returns boosts private equity: leveraged buyouts and other deals led by private equity firms are all the rage these days. Insipid stock market returns have brought institutional funds flocking to private equity, which is now able to buy very large, complex companies.		Jul 1, 2006	2047
Corporate jets flock to the runways: business-aviation use is surging, for a variety of reasons, among them convenience, flexibility and efficiency. And increasingly, executives below the C-suite level are going along for a ride.		May 1, 2006	1653
M & A looks hot--and energy hotter still: a number of factors coming together have M & A experts talking about a banner year, especially for the energy industry, where volatile commodity prices have spurred buyers and sellers to pair off.		Mar 1, 2006	2168
Sarbanes-Oxley report card is mixed: three years after the law was enacted, has it made a demonstrable difference in the level of corporate fraud? Opinion is divided, at best, though there's a general feeling that corporate governance has improved.		Dec 1, 2005	2157
Filling the GAP: doing "reverse mergers" into shell companies has become a major avenue for private companies seeking new capital, but established practices like PIPEs and mezzanine financing have their share of the action, too.	Cover Story	Sep 1, 2005	3350
M & A: how to put money in the bank; Fifth Third Bancorp CFO Mark Graf talks about the Ohio-based regional bank's highly successful merger strategy and the process it has in place to assure that the deals work.		Jun 1, 2005	2169
Accommodating would-be whistleblowers: Sarbanes-Oxley's Section 301 requires companies to establish effective procedures for handling whistleblower complaints. Attorneys, consultants and others talk about just how companies can best do that.		Mar 1, 2005	2053
Funding products, not just ideas: venture capitalists are busy once again funneling money into new and growing companies--but with limits. 'We're not handing them the keys to the Porsche up front,' says one.		Sep 1, 2004	2058
Putting directors in the classroom.		Jun 1, 2004	1643
Telemarketing curbs not a boon to all: the recent federal "do not call" regulations have been cheered by millions of consumers, but they have hurt the telemarketing industry and challenged many traditional businesses that rely on the phone to bring in revenue.		Mar 1, 2004	1511
Fraud: what starts small can snowball: most episodes of financial fraud start as "tweaks" or "adjustments." Experts say that most often, its the culture that is to blame, and as the schemes deepen, individual reservations are simply overwhelmed.		Dec 1, 2003	2172
Capital structure: CFOs and other finance officers say that one size doesn't fit all, but that capital structure sends key signals to the capital markets, lenders and other important financing sources.		Sep 1, 2003	2078
Audit committees bracing for shakeup. (Working with Boards).		Dec 1, 2002	2037
Accounting for the big five breakups. (News Analysis).		Oct 1, 2002	968
The travails of Tyco. (Corporate Strategy).	Statistical Data Included	Jun 1, 2002	2204
In Enron's wake calls for reforms: Forensic accountants and critics of the accounting status quo say that changes must be made -- and not just by creating more rules. (Accounting Analysis).		Mar 1, 2002	1044
Keeping Legal Costs Down. (Litigation).		Dec 1, 2001	2010
The PERILS of Managing OVERSEAS.	Statistical Data Included	Jun 1, 2001	2065
ACCOUNTING FRAUD.		Sep 1, 2000	2365