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SCAFP News Volume 8 Issue 3 |
From the Corner Office
Happy New Year to all Southern California AFP members! What 's this Chuck, it's August and you're wishing us a Happy New Year? What it means is that effective July 1, 2002, the newly elected SCAFP Officers and Directors assumed their new responsibilities. Your association has a new president and I am honored to assume this position replacing Dick Bort.
Speaking of Dick, we owe him thanks for terrific job in leading the association during the past year. He was the first president following the adoption of the SCAFP Strategic Plan, which he also chaired, and he spent untold hours building the foundation for our future. We had lots of successes during the past year and Dick was a pivotal individual in that regard. He remains a director in his role as past president so his talents and ideals will continue to surface.
In addition, we owe a thank you to all officers and directors and nearly all have signed up for a second term. They all have contributed mightily to the success of SCAFP.
During my term of office, my goals are to continue enhancing the viability of the association and the value it provides to members by following the strategic plan and incorporating ideas generated by you, the members. We're going to continue focusing on membership, communications, education and networking. Dick Bort, Joyce Horn and I recently attended an AFP Regional Officers meeting in Washington D.C and came away with lots of new ideas other associations have used to their benefit. Dick Bort highlights some of these ideas in another section of this newsletter.
Upcoming events you should be aware of are:
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Membership Survey will be distributed soon asking for your input on a number of topics relating to our association.
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CCM Review Workshop October 28 - 30
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Annual "You Bet Your Cash" meeting on Friday, December 13, with Bill Luehrmann once again acting as master of ceremonies. He's always looking for questions to ask during the game and if your question is asked, you hopefully remember the correct answer. In addition, the association welcomes your gift donations for distribution to the winning team and others. Everyone goes away with some gifts!
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EXPO LA Symposium 2003 planning is well underway capitalizing on the results of the recently conduced event. The dates for 2003 are May 14 - 15 at The Omni Hotel in downtown Los Angeles
Thanks for selecting me as your association president for the coming year. I look forward to working with all of you and welcome your comments any time.
Regards,
Chuck Whitney
President
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SCAFP Represented at Regional Officers Meeting |
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The AFP held its annual Regional Officers Meetings in mid-July in Washington, DC, and SCAFP was represented by Chuck Whitney, President (Union Bank of California) and Dick Bort, Immediate Past President (Bort & Company, Inc.). Joyce Horn (former president and director (Payden & Rygel) also attended as a member of the Regional Associations Task Force. The Regional Officers Meetings are designed to maximize the sharing of ideas among the regional AFP associations such as SCAFP to strengthen their membership, leadership, programs, and finances. Using the dual concepts of the Idea Fair, involving written entries describing important - and sometimes unusual - efforts undertaken by regionals, as well as numerous breakout discussions, the Regional Officers Meetings are rich in content and sharing. Bort and Whitney, both of whom also attended these meetings last year, continued to be impressed with the energy and creative ideas of their peer groups, and they have brought numerous ideas back with them for discussion with the SCAFP Board. "Even though we seem to be doing a lot of things right," Whitney said, "there is always the opportunity to try something new or to put a new twist on an old idea." Bort added, "One of the first things we're going to do is to revise the members' survey that was just about ready to go out to members. We found a novel idea for the survey instrument," he noted, "that the Cincinnati AFP used that should enhance our members' responsiveness." The Regional Officers Meeting is one of the major ways in
which the AFP supports and enhances SCAFP and the other affiliated regional
associations. |
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"Best Ideas" From AFP Regionals |
Sharing new ideas is one of the real benefits stemming from the gathering of 43 AFP regional associations in July. Each regional submitted ideas they had achieved, and the attendees voted on the best in each category. While SCAFP did not repeat as a winner this year, Chuck Whitney and Dick Bort, representing the SCAFP, were impressed with many of the ideas that were offered. Here are four of the best...
Best Communications Vehicle - The Houston TMA (HTMA) sought a way to quickly and effectively communicate some basic information about itself, such as its mission, mailing address, and web site address. HTMA achieved this by developing a business card with the association's logo and all pertinent information, using both sides of the card. Bankers as well as corporate members carry a supply of these cards, which they distribute to prospective members whenever they encounter them.
Best Meeting Idea - The TMA of San Diego took a page from SCAFP's book and introduced a game show at their annual holiday luncheon. For the first few years they used the "Jeopardy" format, then they switched to the "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?" format, and then two years ago they switched again to the "Survivor-Treasury Island" format. In "Survivor-Treasury Island," each luncheon table is a tribe, each of which is given a series of "challenges," and they vie for "immunity." All other tribes would vote people out of their tribe by drawing numbers and... well, you know the rest.
Best Partnering Idea - TMA of Chicago (TMAC) had formerly awarded cash scholarships to qualified college students based on papers written on assigned topics. While this provided financial support to good students, it did not promote careers in treasury management. TMAC decided to change their approach and, instead, now sponsors and funds one intern at each of six local universities. Each university finds and selects one intern, who must be a full-time undergraduate student majoring in business, finance, accounting, or a related area, with a minimum GPA of "B." The students intern in the business offices of their respective universities performing treasury-related functions, such as cash management, finance, benefits, payroll, etc. TMAC reimburses each university $10 per hour for between 180 and 240 hours. During the internship, the students are required to submit reports and participate in TMAC's annual conference, Windy City Summit.
Other Great Ideas - Cincinnati TMA (CTMA) used a particularly well-designed membership survey for use at the end of each program year to help its leaders plan programs for the upcoming year. The survey instrument was designed to determine the topics that most interested its members, establish a mechanism for members to provide feedback to the leadership, and to provide a way for members to feel connected to the association. More than 45% of CTMA's members responded to the survey this past year and, coincidentally, attendance at CTMA meetings has increased by approximately 20%. SCAFP was so impressed that we pulled our own membership survey instrument off the press and are redesigning it along the lines of the CTMA's, and it should be in SCAFP members' hands shortly.
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Upcoming Events |
"SAVE THE DATES"
October 11 Luncheon Meeting - Sweeping Changes in Corporate Auditing Practices presented by KPMG at Omni Los Angeles Hotel.
October 28, 29 & 30 - AFP CCM Review Course at Union Bank of California. See Newsletter or call EMA Office at 818 843-5660 for more information.
November 8 Luncheon Meeting - Retirement Planning presented by Mark Davis from Mark A. Davis Consulting at Omni Los Angeles Hotel.
December 13 - Annual "You Bet Your Cash" Luncheon Meeting and Game Show hosted by Bill Luehrmann at Omni Los Angeles Hotel. Be sure to submit questions and arrange to bring corporate logo gifts.
May 14 & 15, 2003 - Annual EXPO LA Symposium 2003 at Omni Los Angeles Hotel.
In a dramatic shift, the Senate passed the Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act of 2002 (S. 2673) by a 97 - 0 vote. Only a few weeks ago, it appeared that approval of this bill, introduced by Sen. Sarbanes (D-MD), was problematic. The WorldCom and other recent corporate crises however shifted the political dynamics from support of a previously passed moderate House bill Rep. Oxley's (R-OH) H.R. 3763 - to Sen. Sarbanes' more rigorous solution to accounting and corporate failings. House-Senate conferees have been appointed to hammer out a final bill from these two measures. Mr. Oxley will chair the House-Senate conference and has promised to deliver a bill to President Bush by July 26. Terrorism Insurance Coverage
While conference appointees are yet to be named in either the House or Senate, informal discussions are already underway to resolve differences between the Terrorism Risk Protection Act (H.R. 3210) and the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (S. 2600).
Both the House and Senate bills would create a Federal role in reinsuring against terrorist acts, but they differ in how they deal with punitive damages and the ways in which the federal backstop could be triggered. Many property and casualty insurance policies issued after December 31 no longer cover acts of terrorism, or are doing so at huge premium increases.
Derivatives JurisdictionSen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) has introduced S. 2724 derivatives legislation which would undermine major provisions of the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000. Accounting and Auditing Reforms
The Senate unanimously approved landmark legislation (S. 2673) to institute wide ranging reforms of the accounting and auditing professions and corporate governance. The bill now proceeds to a House-Senate conference to reconcile differences with H.R. 3763, which passed the House in April. The House passed H.R. 5118, which would impose harsh penalties for accounting and auditing improprieties at public companies, one day after the Senate passed S. 2673. The bill would create a new securities fraud provision that would impose a maximum prison sentence of 25 years. Stock Options
Despite the efforts of Senators Carl Levin (D-MI) and John McCain (R-AZ), the landmark accounting reform bill passed unanimously by the Senate did not include language requiring the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) to develop within one year a standard for accounting for stock options. Financial Accounting Standards Board Act
A bill approved by a subcommittee in the House of Representatives, H.R. 5058, would mandate that FASB follow certain principles in issuing accounting standards and dictate the subject and timing of certain FASB projects. Legislation on Company Stock in 401(k) Plans
The Senate Finance Committee reported out a bill dealing with company stock in 401(k) plans on July 11, 2002. The bill, S. 1971, was originally introduced by Sen. Grassley (R-IA), and then modified by Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT). Prior to Senate floor action, this bill will have to be reconciled with the legislation reported out of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Senate floor action is not likely until the fall. EGTERRA Retirement Savings Provisions
On June 21, 2002, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 4931, the Retirement Savings Security Act of 2002. The bill, co-sponsored by Representatives Portman (R-OH) and Cardin (D-MD), makes permanent the retirement savings provisions of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTERRA). Bank Lending Practices
Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) has asked the Federal Reserve, Comptroller of the Currency, and General Accounting Office to investigate whether banks are tying credit decisions to the purchase of underwriting and advisory services.
In the letter to Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and Comptroller of the Currency John D. Hawke Jr., Rep. Dingell referenced AFP's survey, "The Impact of Financial Industry Consolidation on Access to Short-Term Credit."
ConsolidationsFASB has undertaken a fast-track project to provide guidance for determining when a company, the primary beneficiary, should consolidate a special purpose entity (SPE). AFP plans to file a comment letter with FASB by August 30. Court Decision on Sweep Order
An Arizona court has ruled that a customer instruction to a bank to move funds from a deposit account to an interest-bearing account when it reaches a specified balance is not a "payment order" under Article 4A of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC).
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Celeste Caulfield
USA Petroleum
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SCAFP Offers Best Way to Prepare for CCM Exam |
| If you have signed up for the exam, you
may be considering the best way to prepare for the exam. The SCAFP (Southern
California Association for Financial Professionals) is offering its members or
employees of member firms the opportunity to prepare for the exam by attending
the AFP Review Course sponsored by Union Bank of California October 28 - 30. The
cost is $695 per person. This includes the course, snacks, lunch and parking
for all three days. In addition, you will have the opportunity to join in
evening study groups prior to the review course. (Details of study groups are to
be determined. They are expected to start approximately eight weeks prior to the
course.) Please contact the SCAFP at 1-818-843-5660 or SCAFP@emaoffice.com with any questions or to receive an application form by the October 15, 2002 deadline. What are some of the reasons to obtain your CCM (Certified Cash Manager) credential? The CCM is one of the most visible recognitions of individual expertise in the field of cash/treasury management. The CCM program is a professional certification program designed to measure an individual's knowledge of the fundamentals of cash/treasury management and to augment career development through continuing professional education. The CCM credential serves as a benchmark in the industry and increases the visibility of cash/treasury managers in the corporate workplace. The Certified Cash Manager program is recognized as one of the highest standards of professionalism in the field of cash/treasury management. CCM certification also enhances customer relations for bankers, cash management consultants and providers of related services. It is not too late to sign up for the CCM Exam being offered between Nov. 9 and Dec. 7, 2002. The published deadline is presently August 16 (see AFP web site for possible extended deadline). Those who want to take the test need to register for the test directly with the AFP which can be done by going to their web site at www.afponline.org. |
Berkeley Cash Management Discount for SCAFP Members |
| SCAFP is a sponsor of the Berkeley Cash Management Program. A discount of $250 is available to all SCAFP members who attend the workshop. The next two programs are offered October 21 - 23, 2002, and March 17 - 19, 2003, in San Francisco, CA. For more information, go their web site at http://www.ucs-edu.net. Click on Cash and Treasury Management Programs. When registering, write SCAFP DISCOUNT on the top of the form and pay the reduced fee. |
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New Member |
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SCAFP's new Membership Brochure is complete! This will be our first brochure, and we are enthusiastic about utilizing it for our first Membership Drive. Stay tuned! |
©2002, Southern California Association for Financial Professionals
