Content about Corporate governance

Brisbane, Calif. -- Bebe stores announced that it has promoted Liyuan Woo to the position of CFO.
   
Woo will succeed Walter J. Parks, COO and CFO, who is departing the company effective May 3. The COO position will be eliminated and CEO Steve Birkhold will assume the COO responsibilities.
 

New York -- Investment firm Starboard Value, Office Depot’s largest stockholder with a 14.8% stake, revealed Monday it has delivered a letter to the office supply retailer’s board of directors, expressing “strong disappointment at the board's failure to work constructively with Starboard to reconstitute the board.”

In March, Starboard nominated six candidates, including former Home Depot chief Robert Nardelli – to Office Depot’s board in an effort to strengthen the company’s direction.

North Plainfield, N.J. -- Levin Management Corp. said that Timothy G. DeCola has been named VP and CFO of the company, replacing the retired Harold Harris.

DeCola joins Levin from Pettinaro Construction Co., where he served as CFO. He will be responsible for all aspects of corporate finance and risk management at Levin for company-owned and managed properties as well as for real estate tax and financing reviews.

New York -- Nearly half (49%) of retail CFOs expect their capital expenditures will increase in the next 12 months, a 19-point uptick that leads all industries, and 29% expect to consider additional financing for expenditures, also leading all industries. according to GE Capital’s latest semi-annual “U.S. Mid-Market CFO Survey.” (Retail respondents have revenues of $150 million and an employee count of 1,235, on average. Data comparisons are against the GE Capital Mid-Market’s CFO Survey executed in first quarter 2012.

New York -- Body Central announced Friday that Thomas W. Stoltz has been promoted to COO and named interim CEO.

Stoltz has served as the company's executive VP and CFO since September 2011 and replaces B. Allen Weinstein, the company's former CEO who retired effective Aug. 16.

Stoltz will also continue to serve as Body Central's CFO.

The women’s apparel retailer has begun a search for a new CEO.

Canton, Mass. -- Dunkin' Brands Group said Monday that it has named current CFO Neil Moses as its new chief global strategy officer, charged with driving the company's strategic initiatives.

Paul Carbone, formerly VP finance and strategy, is being promoted to CFO.
 

Philadelphia -- Urban Outfitters said Wednesday that CFO Eric Artz is leaving the company, and will be replaced by current chief accounting officer Frank Conforti, effective April 3.

No reason has been given for Artz’s departure, other than he plans to return to the west coast.

Urban Outfitters operates under the Anthropologie, BHLDN, Free People, Terrain and Urban Outfitters brands.
 

Framingham, Mass. -- The TJX Cos. announced Tuesday that Scott Goldenberg has been promoted to CFO, retaining his executive VP title, effective immediately.

Goldenberg will oversee corporate finance for TJX and continue to report to Jeffrey Naylor, who had resumed the CFO position in 2009. Naylor will continue as senior executive VP, chief administrative officer and also have responsibility for other corporate functions, including information technology, legal, risk management and investor relations.

Albany, N.Y. -- Trans World Entertainment Corp. announced it has named Tom Seaver as CFO, effective immediately.

Seaver, most recently held the position of VP – strategic planning and previously held the position of VP – finance global PMC.

New York City -- Although many CFOs have sustainability on their screens, some have yet to fully engage with the new risks – and opportunities – that the "sustainability imperative" presents, according to a survey conducted by Deloitte.

The study, “Sustainable Finance: The risks and opportunities that (some) CFOs are overlooking,” finds there is considerable opportunity for CFOs to shape their companies' strategic responses to sustainability issues.

Among its key findings:

Boston -- Gordon Brothers Group announced that Gary M. Talarico joined the firm as president and CEO reporting to the Board of Directors. Michael Frieze will assume the role of chairman, board of directors. 

Prior to joining Gordon Brothers Group, Talarico he was managing partner of Cora Street Partners, an advisory boutique. From 2004 to 2009, he was a managing director of Sun Capital Partners.

New York City -- A report released Thursday by The Conference Board said that the rate of dismissal of CEOs in the S&P 500 due to disciplinary actions has increased in recent years, while 25% of boards of directors facing a chief executive succession have opted for an outside hire.

According to the 2011 CEO Succession Report, 51 CEOs in the S&P 500 left their post in 2010, making the rate of CEO succession approximately 10%, consistent with the average number of annual succession announcements from 2000 through 2009.