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.
Executive Moves
ImClone’s board chairman David Kies and William Crouse, a member of the company’s audit committee, have resigned, and Carl Icahn, the second-largest stockholder in the New York-based biotech firm, reportedly is trying to oust Interim Chief Financial Officer Joseph Fischer. Recently, Icahn was quoted as saying the board’s recent performance has been “deplorable,” citing its failure to develop a cancer drug and inability to find a suitable chief executive officer.
Campanelli
Sovereign Bancorp’s Chief Executive Officer Jay Sidhu has resigned, following criticism of a deal with a Spanish bank that bypassed shareholder approval. He will continue to serve as non-executive chairman until the end of the year. The board of directors has appointed Joseph Campanelli, who previously served as the vice chairman and CEO of the Philadelphia-based banking institution’s New England division, president and CEO for the time being, and has formed an executive search committee to find Sidhu’s permanent replacement.
Santa Clara, Calif.-based software provider McAfee has fired President Kevin Weiss, and Chief Executive Officer and Chairman George Samenuk is retiring following a stock options probe that revealed accounting problems requiring financial restatements. Dale Fuller has been named interim CEO and president, and Charles Robel has been appointed chairman of the board.
Scott Ensor has been promoted to chief risk officer for First Charter Corp., the Charlotte, N.C.-based holding company for First Charter Bank.
Shamber
Mark Shamber, chief accounting officer and corporate controller for United Natural Foods, has been promoted to chief financial officer and treasurer. Shamber has served as acting CFO for the Dayville, Conn.-based natural and organic foods provider since January. The company also announced that Lisa N’Chonon, assistant corporate controller since 2004, has been promoted to corporate controller.
Forensic accountant Brian Huchro has joined Deloitte Financial Advisory Services as a partner. Hurcho, who will work out of Deloitte’s forensic and dispute service practice in New York, will focus on complex regulatory matters. Previously, Huchro spent nearly a decade at the Securities and Exchange Commission, most recently in the Division of Enforcement.
The European Federation of Accountants, an organization based in Brussels that seeks to advance the interests of the European accounting profession, has named Olivier Boutellis-Taft its new chief executive officer. Boutellis-Taft, a former director at PricewaterhouseCoopers, is also a member of the governing board for the European Policy Centre, a European affairs think-tank.
Robin VanCastle has been named chief accounting officer for Taylor Capital Group, the Rosemont, Ill.-based holding company for Cole Taylor Bank. Meanwhile, Chief Financial Officer Daniel Stevens has resigned.
NewGen Technologies has appointed Tadas Norvaisa corporate controller. Prior to joining the Charlotte, N.C.-based fuel developer, Norvaisa was an internal-audit manager at Deloitte & Touche leading numerous internal audits, and at Hess Corp., where he conducted compliance audits.
Fisher
Joseph Fisher has joined Affirmative Insurance Holdings, an Addison, Texas, auto insurance provider, as general counsel. Fisher, who came from the law firm McDermott, Will & Emery, where he specialized in corporate-governance matters, replaces David Snyder, who has assumed the role of Affirmative Insurance’s associate general counsel.
On The Board
Apple Computer’s former chief financial officer, Fred Andersen, has resigned from the board of directors. The Cupertino, Calif.-based computer giant currently is reviewing the findings of an independent investigation into past stock option grants.
Julie St. John has left 3Com Corp.’s board, while Dominique Trempont has been elected to serve as a director and member of the company’s audit-and-finance committee. Trempont, who is the seventh board member to join the Marlborough, Mass.-based network-services provider, currently is a board member and audit-committee member for Finisar Corp. and a board member for Cquay Technologies Corp.
Previously, Trempont was chief executive officer-in-residence for Battery Ventures and CEO at Kanisa.
The board of directors at Eastman Chemical Company, has amended the company’s bylaws so directors are elected by a majority vote by stockholders. Prior to the change, directors were elected by a plurality of stockholder votes. The Kingsport, Tenn.-based chemical maker also has named Lewis Kling a director. Kling, who is president and chief executive officer of Flowserve Corp., will serve with directors whose term expires at the annual stockholders’ meeting in 2009.
From The Vendors
Tax and auditing consultancy McGladrey & Pullen has announced that board member and managing partner Willian Travis is retiring at the end of the year. Travis will remain on the Bloomington, Minn.-based firm’s board as an adviser through 2008.
Big 4 accounting firm KPMG International, which is based in Amstelveen, Netherlands, will merge its U.K.- and German-member firms in the hopes of making its service more risk-free and consistent. The combined firms will be called KPMG Europe and will remain part of KMPG International. The merger is the first following the introduction of the European Union’ 8th Directive, which will allow cross-border mergers between accounting firms starting in 2007.
Softrax Corp., a provider of billing and revenue-management software, has announced that SoftBrands, an enterprise-application software provider for the manufacturing and hospitality industries, will use Softrax products to consolidate and automate its worldwide financial infrastructure.
Accenture and Symantec have established Accenture and Symantec Security Transformation Services, which will build and implement data-security solutions for companies dealing with the complexity of risk management in their IT environments. The companies seek to mitigate security risks in compliance, security monitoring and management, and application security.
Aurora Health Care has signed a contract with Lawson Software to facilitate its financial reporting. By automating its core business processes with Lawson’s Enterprise Financial Management and Business Intelligence suites, the health-care provider hopes to increase operational efficiencies and enhance its internal controls.
Front Range Internet has selected Privacy Networks’ PrivacyVault, which seeks to address growing concerns over electronically stored information and e-discovery, for its email archiving.
Thomson RIA, which is part of Thomson Tax & Accounting, has formed a strategic relationship with Paisley Consulting, a maker of governance, risk, and compliance software. The companies will introduce a new GRC platform of integrated access to compliance research and auditing.
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