Hardly surprising but Exxon Mobil's leaders have defeated the descendents of Standard Oil's founder John D Rockefeller. For anyone wanting a bit of history, Exxon and Mobil were the bastard...

Totally irrepressible!Conrad Black has settled down into the slammer quite well. He is now taking american history classes in prison. His students include prison staff and, from all reports, he is...

Michael Dell sure has his work cut out turning his company around.Earlier this week, Dell was found guilty of false advertising and fraud. It came amidst enormous complaints about the way Dell went...

Tough being a chief financial officer these days, post-Sarbanes-Oxley.It seems that CFOs of firms that have had to restate their numbers are more likely to be shown the door and a university of...

Oil prices have dropped slightly but it's not over yet. The oil price will continue to rise simply because there is an issue of supply constraints biting against soaring global demand.Certainly...

US soldiers have put their lives in Iraq. Their reward: foreclosure.Foreclosures in US towns where soldiers live are increasing at almost four times the national average, according to data compiled...

Compliance officers are cashing in on the ever-growing pile of laws and regulations confronting companies around the world. Some are now earning well into the seven figures, reports Michael Grebb at...

Shades of Hewlett-Packard's pretexting scandal two years ago. But this time in Germany.Deutsche Telekom has announced an investigation into a systemic spying operation to track calls between top...

With more pressure on companies to show their green credentials, environmental accounting might well become one of the hot jobs of the future.Here is a good summary of what it entails. Essentially,...

Today, I had a long chat with Bob Garnett, a member of the London-based International Accounting Standards Board. Before joining the board, he was Executive Vice-President, Finance for the global...

If Siemens executives thought the fallout from the bribery scandal was about to go away, they should think again. It's likely to get worse with the trial starting today of former executive...

How seriously should companies treat their outbound emails? And are they handling the issue appropriately?For some, these might be significant questions in light of study, reported in the National...

No surprises that US government auditors have found that the contracting practices in Iraq are deficient. And a complete waste of taxpayers' money.The New York Times reports that the us...

Another sign that times are getting tough. The market gyrations and subprime crisis are providing plenty of opportunities for the unscrupulous, says the Federal Bureau of Investigation.An FBI...

Interesting insights into the global food crisis from London-based consultants Independent Strategy.The World Bank says global food prices have nearly doubled in three years. The crisis has been...

Never expect banks to stick to rules once they start losing money. When banks run into trouble, there is a simple solution: just change the rules.No surprises then that the Financial Times reports...

The US Department of Justice is flexing its muscles with the unexpected detention of BAE chief executive Mike Turner and another executive at George Bush International Airport. The DOJ is...

Environmental law might focus on front-line companies that visibly pollute or exploit natural resources, but it does little to address their financial backers like the banks, pension plans and mutual...

Every now and then when you read through accounts, you come across a "going concern statement'' from the auditors. It's basically a red flag signalling that the company's state...

There might be many more female accountants than there were 30 years ago but are still under-represented in the top ranks of accounting firms, according to a new survey.The survey from the Illinois...

Alarming news that banks and securities firms are hiding $35 billion of writedowns. Instead of putting this stuff on their income statements, where it will hit the bottom line, they are leaving it on...