Supporta appoints new FD
Care and services sector outsourcing provider Supporta has promoted its mergers and acquisitions director, Darren Xiberras, to the finance director throne
The AIM-quoted corporate, which counts the NHS as a client, announced that
Xiberras would take over with immediate effect after its finance boss David
Jackson announced his intention to ‘pursue another opportunity’.
Prior to joining Supporta, ACCA-certified Xiberras was divisional finance
head at Tribal Education, a subsidiary of the Tribal Group, and regional FD of
HBS Business Services.
Supporta chief executive John Jasper said: ‘Darren is a highly experienced
financial manager. We are confident he is the right person to take us on to the
next stage of our development.’
COMPANY REPORTS
BISYS to pay $25m to settle SEC case
BISYS, a leading US provider of financial products and support services, has
agreed to pay approximately $25m (£12.6m) to resolve a claim brought against it
by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC’s case alleged that between
July 2000 and December 2003, former BISYS staff ‘engaged in a variety of
improper accounting practices’, which led to an overstatement of the company’s
reported financial results by almost $180m. The practices mainly occurred in the
company’s insurance services division, where the SEC believed BISYS had recorded
revenue commissions from acquired companies that it had not officially yet
acquired.
FTSE 100 pension deficits plummet
Pension deficits have fallen by £40bn since the start of the year and are at the
lowest level for more than five years, according to actuaries from Deloitte. The
FTSE 100 pension schemes now have an aggregate surplus relative to the
accounting value of their liabilities. The improvement has been fuelled by a
strong UK equity market and falls in the prices of bonds used to measure pension
scheme liabilities. Most pension schemes invest a significant proportion (60% on
average) of their assets in the stock market. The value of UK shares has
increased by 9% since the start of the year. Bond prices have fallen over the
same period. Deloitte actuaries estimate that this has wiped around £25bn off
the value of pension deficits.
Charges against CA Inc dismissed
A US court has dismissed all pending charges against CA Inc, (formerly known as
Computer Associates) in connection with improper accounting of its software
licensing revenues. The company said it had satisfied the terms of a deferred
prosecution agreement, which arose out of the criminal conduct by certain former
executives in failing to record, within the proper quarter, revenue associated
with certain software license agreements. Last month, Charles Wang, co-founder
of Computer Associates was blamed for accounting fraud at the company, following
the release of a report by a special committee of the company.
Michael Page appoints Mitie chief as NED
Accountancy recruiter Michael Page has brought Ruby McGregor-Smith onto its
board as a non-executive director. McGregor-Smith is currently chief executive
of Mitie Group, one of the UK’s leading facilities, engineering and property
services providers. Michael Page’s new NED joined Mitie in 2002 as group FD
before becoming chief operating officer in 2005. Michael Page chairman Sir
Adrian Montague said: ‘Ruby’s experience of leading Mitie, a people business
with a unique dynamic culture, will be a valuable asset to Michael Page.’