In This Issue:
Harvard Program on Strategic Finance
FEI's Committee on Finance and Technology Examines Internet Security and Fraud Issues
FAS 133 Amendment
Free Quicken or HBR for Motivated Members
Private Company Compensation Strategies
XFRML
Financial Reporting in the Internet Age
CCR Survey on Quarterly Audit Committee Communications
Online Mini-Survey: Audit Committee Effectiveness
Senate Hearings on Business Combinations/Pooling Accounting
SEC Proposes New Auditor Oversight
Benefits Finance Committee Seeks New Members
Summary of the Selective Disclosure Call
Fresh from FERF
EVA© Strategies Conference
FEI VP of Technical Activities Position
New Members
Post Job Openings within your company for FREE!
CFO Opportunity

An HTML version of this issue of FEI Express is attached to the bottom of this file. You also can access that version, plus all past issues of FEI Express, at http://www.financialexecutives.org/newsletters/express/feiexpress28.html.

Please forward me the e-mail addresses of other finance professionals who are interested in FEI Express. You can always reach me at plivingston@financialexecutives.org.

Harvard Program on Strategic Finance
We've got our annual, three-day program at Harvard coming up April 25-27. I attended last year and will attend the full program this year as a regular participant. Can't recommend it strongly enough. World-famous Harvard finance professor Rich Ruback leads the program along with the rest of the incredible full-time Harvard faculty. Contact Diane Watanabe if you want to join us or need more information. She can be reached at 973-898-4628 or dwatanabe@financialexecutives.org.

Featured case studies topics include valuation methods in an acquisition, corporate turnarounds, doing an IPO, consolidation strategy and changing corporate culture. These cases cover companies such as Amazon.com, Eskimo Pie and Microsoft. True to the Harvard tradition, be prepared to work hard. Case studies day in and day out. The case-study method forces you to think strategically, broadly and with a true tactical emphasis. You'll walk away a better businessperson and a more analytical finance professional.

I'm buying (that's right, you heard it here first) dinner the last night in Boston. Fun spot to be determined. Hope you can join us!!!

FEI's Committee on Finance and Technology Examines Internet Security and Fraud Issues
Last week in Atlanta, FEI's CFIT group met to exchange information on emerging technology trends and developments, and to plan the fall Forum coming in Las Vegas Sept. 18 & 19. This committee consistently has some of the best content and meetings in FEI. Contact me plivingston@financialexecutives.org or jluallen@financialexecutives.org if you're interested in participating in FEI's technology section. Scott Boggs of Microsoft and Silvio Lanaro of IBM are just two of the great committee members.

The really hot issues in this meeting paralleled meetings in Washington on Internet hackers and "denial of service" breakdowns. Harold Phipps and Pat Gray, two special agents at the FBI, presented on computer fraud and Internet security investigations. Phipps related how many "old crimes" are turning into "new crimes" with the aid of technology, as in the case of extortion threatening release of stolen trade secrets over the Internet. He painted a vivid picture of how easy it is to break through most firewalls and obtain unauthorized data. The FBI has an extensive information service and protection alert network, and Phipps is available for local chapter presentations, should members want to know more about "what goes on on the other side" and how to minimize risks. To find out more, you can reach him at hphipps@leo.gov.

FAS 133 Amendment
The FASB has issued an exposure draft that amends the controversial FAS 133 - Accounting for Derivatives. These amendments were badly needed, and the FASB heard the comments of corporate professionals struggling with implementation of the new standard. FASB Director of Research Tim Lucas worked especially hard to make this a workable standard. FEI extends its thanks to Tim and all the board members for these changes. FEI member David Sidwell, of JP Morgan, was widely praised by his peers in FEI for his hard work to help the FASB resolve these issues. The exposure draft can be downloaded from the FASB site at http://www.rutgers.edu/Accounting/raw/fasb/.

Free Quicken or HBR for Motivated Members
FEI membership is a great development tool for your qualified staff members. From now until April 30, we have a special incentive for you to bring in a new member from your company. If you're a CFO, get your controller or treasurer involved. Senior financial officers of subsidiaries are qualified candidates, too, if the sub meets a size test (many do). If you sponsor a new member from your company, you can choose among the following free incentives during this special campaign: Quicken Deluxe with TurboTax; a one-year subscription to either Harvard Business Review, Forbes or the McKinsey Quarterly; or an FEI polo shirt by Land's End. Contact JoAnn Stankard for a fax application and expedited handling. She can be reached at 973-898-4600 or jstankard@financialexecutives.org.

Private Company Compensation Strategies
Sign up for this March 28 FEI teleconference at 1 pm Eastern, sponsored by PrivateNet. Mark Meltzer of the Segal Company will address the challenges and unique aspects of creating competitive pay packages for private companies. Click here to register: http://www.financialexecutives.org/teleconference_signup/upcoming_signup.cfm.

XFRML
The AICPA has organized a consortium to define a new financial reporting extension of XML. XML is a more powerful Internet language than HTML. Known as XFRML, the new extension will provide a tagging standard that will allow financial statement information to be exchanged easily between computers via the Internet. The individual tags will provide a high-level chart of accounts of sorts, so financial statements can be more easily analyzed and combined. Mike Willis of PricewaterhouseCoopers and Louis Matherne of the AICPA gave a report at our committee on corporate reporting last week. Here's a link to their presentation, which will give you a fuller understanding of this coming capability.

Financial Reporting in the Internet Age
Internet publishing is clearly going to change the form, if not the substance, of financial reporting. The ease and low cost with which information is delivered has already dramatically increased the amount and types of information available to investors. Publishing with web-based tools will enable management teams to more clearly present the information in a structure that highlights the most important content, and allows a user to drill down and analyze where he or she is more interested. Multi-media formats will be employed soon to further enhance communication.

To get a sense of the capabilities enabled by web-based publishing, check out Microsoft's investor relations site, where it posts its annual report. Scott Boggs, corporate controller, is a leader of FEI's Committee on Finance and Information Technology, and Jerry Masters, senior director - planning and reporting, is active in our Committee on Corporate Reporting.

The site broadly employs pivot tables that allow the conversion of the financial statements to other currencies and other GAAPs. You literally can look at its statements in Japanese GAAP or in yen or both at the press of a button. It also lets you view and analyze Microsoft revenues by sales channel and product group in a whole new way. For example, you can look at Windows platform revenue in Asia.

Here's a link to the site - http://www.microsoft.com/msft/ar99/lts.htm.

CCR Survey on Quarterly Audit Committee Communications
A quick survey taken at the March 2 meeting of FEI's Committee on Corporate Reporting on the new audit committee requirements for quarterly financial information showed that seven companies aren't planning any regularly scheduled meetings with the audit committee in connection with their quarterly financial results unless there's something to discuss. Twenty-three companies will have some contact with only the audit committee chairman. Three will involve the full committee. Of the companies having meetings, 16 will meet prior to the press release and nine will meet prior to the filing of the 10-Q.

CCR members also were asked about moving the filing of the 10-Q closer to the press release; 10 members indicated they'd be moving toward closing the gap between the dates. The new rules on audit committee communications are effective for periods ending on or after March 15, 2000.

Online Mini-Survey: Audit Committee Effectiveness
To take part in this 1-minute survey on the new rules for interim reviews of financial statements. See composite results instantly! It's quick and easy: Click here http://www.financialexecutives.org/survey/aces/miniAC.cfm

Senate Hearings on Business Combinations/Pooling Accounting
Here's the link to Sen. Phil Gramm's statement to open the hearings last week in which FASB Chairman Ed Jenkins was called before the Senate Banking Hearings to discuss the FASB's proposal to eliminate pooling accounting: http://www.senate.gov/~banking/prel00/0302pol.htm.

Also, here's a link to the full list of experts and their testimony: http://www.senate.gov/~banking/00_03hrg/030200/witness.htm.

SEC Proposes New Auditor Oversight
The SEC is calling for a new regulatory system for the CPA profession. SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt and Chief Accountant Lynn Turner recently announced they would like to transfer regulatory authority for how CPAs conduct their audits from the AICPA to a "self-regulatory" organization with more power and authority. According to Turner, the AICPA's Professional Ethics Executive Committee (the group that serves as the profession's oversight board) "has been unable to take timely action due to an inability to protect its files from subpoena, and in numerous financial reporting cases … it has failed to take any action." For more information, see the Electronic Accountant article at http://www.electronicaccountant.com/news/022200_5.htm.

Benefits Finance Committee Seeks New Members
Corporate pension funding, plan design, and benefits finance strategy have recently attracted significant attention in Washington and the media. New regulations and legislative initiatives are appearing with greater frequency and could significantly impact America's employer-based pension and healthcare benefit systems by adding complexity and driving up costs. This is a growing concern for many FEI members. As a result, CBF is becoming more active and recruiting additional members to address these issues. To learn more, contact FEI's Tom Dawson at tdawson@feidc.org, or (202) 457-6206.

Summary of the Selective Disclosure Call
We held a joint teleconference with the BRT on the SEC's selective disclosure issue. Special thanks to David Shedlarz, CFO of Pfizer and head of the BRT's corporate governance subcommittee, for all his efforts to promote joint FEI and BRT efforts. As you probably know, David is in the middle of the biggest hostile takeover of all time, with Pfizer's proposed purchase of Warner Lambert. Nevertheless, he and his staff found time to promote this effort.

In the call, Harvey Goldschmid and David Becker (Harvey's successor as general counsel) of the SEC made it clear that the proposed selective disclosure rules encourage companies to be very conscious about maintaining a level playing field for investors. Two key pieces of guidance stand out. If you make a PLANNED or INTENTIONAL announcement of previously non-public, material information, you can't just do it to a select group of analysts and shareholders; you must simultaneously issue that information in a press release. Second, if such a disclosure occurs unintentionally, the rules would require you issue a press release containing that information within 24 hours. These rules apply to companies, not individuals, and the SEC is the enforcer, not private litigants. You still can rely on confidentiality to allow you to disclose key information to bankers, employees and suppliers/customers, so long as it's clear that parties are subject to a confidentiality obligation.

Fresh from FERF
Sticking a toe in the e-commerce waters? Get some pointers from companies already in the trenches, like Classified Ventures - the first case study for an upcoming FERF book on e-commerce. Check it out at www.ferf.org. Also, FERF's new field study, Managing for Value in the Information Age, reveals how some companies have forged their own metrics to manage and measure their intellectual capital. It's still a gray area, but these companies are laying the groundwork. Get the skinny on Apple, Sun Microsystems and Corning at www.ferf.org (under Current Projects).

EVA© Strategies Conference
Still time to register for a 2-day session on Stern Stewart's EVA framework for performance measurement, financial management and incentive compensation; March 23-24 at the Fairmont Hotel. Speakers include Leonard Gryn, CFO of Weber-Stephen Products, John Shiely, president of Briggs & Stratton, John Blystone, CEO of SPX Corp. and a Peter Drucker via video conference. Register through FEI's website at: http://www.financialexecutives.org/confsem/upcoming.html.

FEI VP of Technical Activities Position
One of our most important staff positions is our VP of Technical Activities. Leading our efforts in corporate reporting and information technology, our VP of Technical Activities also oversees our conference programs. This position requires a CPA; an MBA is preferred and significant experience in public company financial reporting is required. This position offers the ability to work with the leaders of finance in America. If you're qualified and interested, send your resume to Donna Myers at dmyers@financialexecutives.org.

New Members
Congratulations to John Worth, Vice President and controller, Centext Corporation in Dallas, and to Wayne Huls, VP, Finance, Banta Catalog Group in Maple Grove, MN.

Post Job Openings within your company for FREE!
A valuable resource for FEI members is the Job Posting Center on the FEI website. Members can post open senior finance positions within their companies at no charge. You'll be required to use your FEI Member ID and Password in order to post. To post a job, please visit the FEI Careers Center and click on "Post a Job" to create your online account. If you have any questions, please e-mail Diane Albergo at dalbergo@financialexecutives.org.

CFO Opportunity
A leading online retailer seeks an acknowledged and successful CFO with 7-10 years of senior financial management experience in progressive and well-regarded companies. Prior experience raising private equity is important. Successful experience with a prior IPO as well as secondary and follow-on offerings is required. Please respond to Arliss Katzman, TMP Worldwide, arliss.katzman@tmpsearch.com. To view additional jobs, visit the FEI Careers Center at http://www.financialexecutives.org/services4.htm.

That's all for now,

Phil