Compliance Week regularly tracks various personnel moves, board appointments, product releases, customer wins, and industry gossip in the corporate governance realm. Submit announcements to Compliance Week Assistant Editor Laura Starczewski.
From The Regulators
The Securities and Exchange Commission has named John Dugan associate district administrator for enforcement for the Boston District Office, which oversees enforcement in the New England area. The SEC also appointed Christopher Conte, Fredric Firestone, and Cheryl Scarboro associate directors for the Division of Enforcement and George Curtis regional director of the SEC’s Central Regional Office. Curtis will oversee enforcement and examination functions in Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming, and New Mexico.
Executive Moves
Hoak
Hewlett Packard has appointed Jon Hoak chief ethics and compliance officer. Hoak, who will be responsible for the Palo Alto, Calif.-based computer maker’s adherence to its Standards of Business Conduct, joins the company after serving as general counsel for NCR, where Mark Hurd, HP’s chief executive officer worked previously. The national media continues to follow HP’s moves after the California attorney general indicted former Chairwoman Patricia Dunn and four other executives, including HP’s former chief ethics officer, in connection with a probe into boardroom leaks.
Almost a year after the resignation of Freddie Mac’s chief financial officer, Martin Baumann, the McLean, Va.-based residential mortgage provider has named Anthony “Buddy” Piszel executive vice president and CFO. Piszel joins the company after serving in the same capacity at Health Net.
Following second-quarter losses in August, Christopher Miller, controller and principal accounting officer for Cost Plus, an Oakland, Calif.-based home furnishings retailer, has resigned. Thomas Willardson, executive vice president and chief financial officer, replaces Miller as principal accounting officer.
Straub
SafeNet, a Baltimore-based information-security provider, has appointed John Frederick, vice president and worldwide controller, to the chief accounting officer and interim chief financial officer posts following the resignations of chairman and chief executive officer Anthony Caputo and Carole Argo, chief operating officer and acting CFO. Also, Walter Straub has been named chairman and interim CEO and Chris Fedde will take over as president and COO. The changes are due to an ongoing review of the company’s stock option granting practices.
UnitedHealth Group’s longtime chairman and chief executive officer, William McGuire, has resigned, following a probe into the company’s stock option practices. Stephen Hemsley will replace McGuire as CEO. The Justice Department, the Minnesota attorney general’s office, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Internal Revenue Service are investigating the Minnetonka, Minn.-based health insurer for backdated options.
CPS Energy has hired Carolyn Shellman as general counsel. Shellman joins the San Antonio-based energy provider after serving as vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary at Electric Reliability Council of Texas.
Following a review of San Francisco-based news publisher CNET’s stock option practices, chairman and chief executive officer Shelby Bonnie has resigned. Neil Ashe, senior vice president of strategy and development, replaces Bonnie—who will continue to serve on the board—as CEO. David Bernstein, who previously held financial-management roles at Adobe Systems and Blue Martini Software, has been named chief accounting officer.
Aon, a Chicago-based insurance brokerage firm, has a new chief risk officer, with Corporate Treasurer Diane Aigotti stepping into the role. Aigotti, who will retain her post as treasurer, will work to identify, measure, and manage key risks the company faces and supervise global acquisitions and divestitures.
Neil Daniels joins C&D Technologies as corporate controller and treasurer. Prior to taking on the role for the Blue Bell, Pa.-based producer of electrical power-storage products, Daniels was vice president of operations at IKON Office Solutions and assistant global controller for Quaker Chemical Corp.
First Acceptance Corp. a Nashville-based auto-insurance provider, announced that Kevin Cohn is its new chief accounting officer. Cohn also will serve as corporate controller and vice president. The company also appointed Edward Pierce chief financial officer.
On The Board
The National Society of Compliance Professionals, a nonprofit organization based in Cornwall Bridge, Conn., that represents compliance professionals, has named Richard Chase of RBC Capital Markets chairman of the board of directors. Chase has served on the NSCP’s board for five years.
Morgan
William Morgan has been elected to the board of directors at Barnes Group, a Bristol, Conn.-based manufacturer of precision metal components. It is unclear on which committees Morgan, a retired partner at KPMG, will serve.
Modine Manufacturing Co., a maker of heating and cooling components based in Racine, Wis., has announced that Charles Cooley has joined its board of directors. It is likely that Cooley, senior vice president and chief financial officer of Lubrizol Corp., will chair the board’s audit committee, following the pending retirement of board member Richard Doyle.
U.S. Bancorp has named Olivia Kirtley to its board of directors. Kirtley, a business consultant on strategic corporate-governance issues who previously was chief financial officer for Vermont American Corp. and past chair of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, will serve on the Minneapolis-based banking institution’s governance and audit committees.
Donald DeMorett, a business-management consultant and former president of Robert Bosch Packaging Technology, has joined the board of directors at MOCON. DeMorett will serve on the audit committee for the Minneapolis-based maker of gas analysis systems.
From The Vendors
Rick Wolf, the former compliance chief at Cendant Corp, has opened a new firm, Lexakos, an independent advisor to corporations and legal and professional firms. The company specializes in compliance, risk management, and e-discovery controls by providing “practice-tested strategies and business-efficient methodologies” dealing with compliance-management risks.
Iron Mountain is introducing a new Web-based management solution that lets organizations administer and monitor physical and electronic repositories containing records and information. Called the Retention Center Solution, the software will give companies access to identify storage areas containing information relevant to litigation discovery and compliance audits. Iron Mountain says it will reduce the risk of fines and sanctions pertaining to e-discovery requests under the amended Rules of Federal Civil Procedure, which take effect Dec. 1.
Open Text also has announced a new litigation-management program, LiveLinkECM, which the company says will help reduce the cost and demands associated with e-discovery.
Verisign announced the departure of George Parsons, a founding member of the company, who taking the helm as chief executive officer for Secorix, a San Mateo, Calif.-based provider of compliance automation solutions.
Kevin Halloran is joining Alexander & Baldwin as director of corporate finance and investor relations. In this newly created role, Halloran, who comes the Honolulu-based freight carrier from Media Ventures Partners, will be responsible for corporate-finance functions, including oversight of corporate-development activities and communication with the investment community.
ProcessUnit is extending its suite of products to include internal control-management software. Initially, the company will focus on compliance issues concerning Statement of Auditing Standard No. 70.
Cable operator Liberty Global has selected Open Pages FCM for automating the ongoing testing and review of its internal controls.
No comments yet