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February 1, 2013 CONNECT WITH SMARTBRIEF Share | Sign up | Archive | Advertise Business Finance Today  Debt-limit bill clears Congress, heads to Obama Legislation to suspend the U.S. debt limit for three months was sent to the White House for President Barack Obama's signature. The Senate voted 64-34 in favor of the bill passed by the House. The Obama administration had warned that without congressional action, the government would run out of money to pay its bills in early March. The Washington Post (1/31), The Hill/Floor Action blog (1/31), Business Insider (1/31)       China's $6.5B investment in U.S. sets record Chinese companies' direct investment in the U.S. reached a record $6.5 billion last year, a 17% increase compared with 2011, according to Rhodium Group. The investment level will grow as China moves closer to having the world's biggest economy, analyst Thilo Hanemann said. The Washington Post (1/31)       Your Bottom Line  Infrastructure law gives plan sponsors an unexpected gift A measure to improve the nation's infrastructure that was signed into law last year has a little-noticed provision that allows sponsors of defined-benefit plans to lower their minimum required contributions. The law lets plan sponsors use average interest rates over the previous 25 years to calculate minimum contributions instead of using average rates over the past two years. CFO.com (1/30)       FASB: Trade receivables aren't subject to offsetting-disclosure rules The Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued an update to clarify the scope of a rule on disclosures about offsetting assets and liabilities. FASB has made clear that ordinary trade receivables are not subject to the offsetting-disclosure requirements. Compliance Week/Accounting & Auditing blog (1/31)       In the C-Suite  3 reasons you shouldn't flip out Too many bosses throw epic tantrums when things don't go their way, writes Scott Eblin. Freaking out will certainly get your workers' attention, but at the cost of lost productivity, a more toxic business culture, and a sharp decline in your employees' enthusiasm and energy. "When the freak out is an executive's go to move, the people around him or her eventually disengage," Eblin warns. EblinGroup.com/Next Level Blog (1/24)       Are you a gracious boss? Bosses often focus so much on showing their strength and assertiveness that they forget to be gracious, writes Kevin Daum. Traits such as humility, empathy and a willingness to defer to others are important parts of modern leadership, Daum argues. "Simply put, the most gracious and powerful leaders are the ones who understand when to step back as a follower and let the most appropriate person lead," he writes. Inc. online (free registration) (1/29)       On the Move  George Davis will become Qualcomm's CFO. Davis is a 13-year veteran of Applied Materials. MarketWatch/Dow Jones Newswires (1/30)       Shawn Guertin will become CFO at Aetna. He was CFO of Coventry Health Care, which Aetna is buying. Fox Business/Reuters (1/31)       Off the Charts  Beijing entrepreneur sells "fresh air" to raise awareness Beijing is engulfed in smog, and one entrepreneur is using the opportunity to sell "canned fresh air" as a tongue-in-check campaign to raise awareness of the need to protect the environment. Los Angeles Times (tiered subscription model)/Money & Co. blog (1/31)       SmartQuote  I'm not sure how many CFOs of plan sponsors realize that 2012 is a year for which you get a do-over. Most CFOs are hardly experts on pensions." --David Gensler, president of Madison Pension Services, as quoted by CFO.com       SmartBrief delivers need-to-know news in over 100 targeted email newsletters to over 3 million readers. All our industry briefings are FREE and open to everyone—sign up today! Accounting Advertising Automotive Aviation & Aerospace Biotechnology Business Chemicals Construction & Real Estate Consumer Packaged Goods Distribution Education Energy Finance Food Service Health Care Insurance Legal Manufacturing Media & Entertainment Nonprofit Retail Technology Telecommunications Travel & Hospitality   Subscriber Tools SIGNUP   SEND FEEDBACK   E-MAIL THIS BRIEF Today's Brief - Permalink | Print friendly format | Web version | Privacy policy Advertise Sales Account Director:  Jim Pataki 212-450-1682 Download Media Kit   SmartBrief Community: Most Clicked Facebook Twitter Publish your Press Release LinkedIn Get this RSS Feed Search Archive About Download a SmartBrief Mobile app today     Recent SmartBrief for CFOs Issues: Thursday, January 31, 2013 Wednesday, January 30, 2013 Tuesday, January 29, 2013 Monday, January 28, 2013 Friday, January 25, 2013     Lead Editor:  Tom Anderson       Mailing Address: SmartBrief, Inc.®, 555 11th ST NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20004     © 1999-2013 SmartBrief, Inc.® Legal Information