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SmartBrief for CFOs

May 4, 2012

Business Finance Today

Share price for Facebook's IPO to be in the range of $28 to $35
Facebook stock is expected to be priced between $28 and $35 a share in its initial public offering, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The pricing range would value the company at up to $86 billion, down from speculation of a value of up to $100 billion. San Jose Mercury News (Calif.) (free registration) (5/3) TheStreet.com (5/3)

Goldman reportedly plans a corporate-bond trading platform
Goldman Sachs will roll out an electronic trading platform for corporate bonds this month, sources said. The world's biggest fund manager, BlackRock, recently said it is working on a bond-trading platform that would permit bond investors to trade corporate debt without having to use the services of Wall Street banks such as Goldman Sachs. Bloomberg (5/4)

Your Bottom Line

It's time for CFOs to take the lead on business ethics
Finance chiefs have an important role to play in ensuring that their companies maintain high ethical standards, SAP's Norman Marks writes. Ethics is as much a job for CFOs as it is for the human resources or legal departments, because ethical lapses create risks that can harm the bottom line. CFOs should take the lead in promoting ethical conduct in their organizations and using internal audits to uncover risky behaviors, Marks writes. CFO.com/Risk & Compliance blog (5/2)

Bain & Co.: Key to cost savings is to avoid being arbitrary
An analysis by Bain & Co. may have uncovered the secrets to achieving long-term corporate cost savings. Companies that are successful at reducing costs do so by focusing on objective metrics that are consistent with their overall business strategies. Companies also can save by increasing accountability in areas that overlap between business units, such as IT. The Wall Street Journal/CFO Journal (5/3)

In the C-Suite

Don't let your team's talents go to waste
Lois Melbourne lays out five steps for making sure your employees' talents are fully utilized. It's essential to provide high-performing employees with opportunities to grow, even if it is outside of their department, Melbourne writes. Start by taking stock of your talent pool, and monitor improvements in every stage of the development process, including hiring, retention and training. Smart Business online (5/1)

How to make diversity a part of your company's culture
Corporate diversity starts at the top, Accenture's Michael Denham writes. Denham writes about how his company promotes diversity in its workforce by making it part of the company's core values. In addition to having diverse leaders, Accenture focuses on recruiting from many communities and supporting programs to empower team members from different backgrounds. Financial Post (Canada) (5/2)

On the Move

Alison Cornell
will become CFO of research-services company Covance. She is vice president of global financial planning and analysis. Reuters (5/2)

Daniel Heinrich
has been appointed to the board of directors of Energizer Holdings. He was executive vice president and CFO at Clorox. Consumer Goods Technology News (5/2)

Steve Roder
has been named CFO of Manulife Financial. He was an executive at AIA Group. Reuters (5/3)

Off the Charts

Hawaii student maintains perfect attendance for 13 years
A 17-year-old student in Hawaii is hoping to complete her senior year of high school this year with perfect attendance. Ciara Cetraro hasn't missed any of the more than 2,000 days of school since beginning kindergarten. She also happens to be her class valedictorian. Yahoo!/The Sideshow blog (5/1)

SmartQuote

Rather than forcing changes from the top down, successful companies recognize and address the natural anxiety that results from change and work to involve the entire organization in the effort. Before long, the company develops a new culture in which keeping costs low is a primary objective."

--Peter Guarraia and Hernan Saenz, writing in the CFO Journal at The Wall Street Journal