Newsletter

SCAFP News Volume 8 Issue 2

From the Corner Office
Time indeed flies when you're having fun, and this past year has flown by very quickly. As I end my term as president, indulge me for a moment while I highlight some of the things that our officers and Board accomplished this past year.

The biggest accomplishment, as I see it, was intangible - we drew a new spirit into the Association based on providing greater value for members, continuity in leadership, and setting some goals toward which we can continually strive. This summer, our Association marks its 27^th birthday, and I have been a member since it was less than a year old. Never have I known a time when we could look forward with more optimism, together with a sound financial footing, and as high a level of enthusiasm among our members.

Major tangible accomplishments include implementing the revised Strategic Plan to give the Association some direction and a new leadership structure. Then we changed the "model" for our annual conference, from an EXPO to a Symposium, with excellent results. The Symposium, held in April, was a rousing success from both an educational and a financial standpoint. We have the financial base now from which we can build our educational and networking opportunities, and I'm looking forward to working in those areas during the coming term.

During SCAFP's 27 years our profession has evolved, first into an association of cash management professionals, then treasury professionals, and now financial professionals. We tend to build our expertise in a particular area - mostly corporate treasury management - as we garner experience and new expertise in financial disciplines well beyond that relatively narrow discipline. We have grown personally as well as professionally by being members in SCAFP and, in particular, by participating in its meetings, events, and affairs.

Now that each of the incumbent directors and officers has had some time to grow into their roles, it's time for them to use their talents for another year in those same positions. Although I will be rolling off as president, replaced by Chuck Whitney (Union Bank of California), we have truly worked as a team this past year and I anticipate that partnership to continue for at least another year. Chuck has been a member of this Association for many years and has volunteered to take on countless tasks and responsibilities during that time. Now is a great time to pass the gavel to him and for everyone to continue to give him the support and encouragement that you gave to me.

Dick Bort, CCM
President

It's Official ~ Officers and Directors Elected

SCAFP's meeting management company, Executive Management Associates, has confirmed that the slate of nominees of officers and directors has been overwhelmingly elected for the term from July 1, 2002 through June 30, 2003. All officers and committee chairs are also directors. Your officers and directors for this forthcoming period will be:

Officers
     President ~ Charles G. Whitney (Union Bank of California)
     President-Elect ~ Michael R. Hards, CCM (JPMorgan Chase)
     Secretary/Treasurer ~ Charles K. Hays, CCM (Hays Consulting)

Committee Chairs
     Communications ~ Celeste Caulfield, CCM (USA Petroleum Corp.)
     Education ~ James Garbat, CCM (Whittier College)
     External Organization Relations ~ John Mattly, CCM (Kern County Treasurer's Office)
     Major Events ~ Jessica Fox, CCM (Union Bank of California)
     Meeting Programs ~ Jacqueline Benderski (Morgan Stanley)
     Membership ~ Tiffany L. Lemieux (Fidelity Investments)

Directors
     Director at Large ~ Janet Rydell (Toyota Motor Credit Corp)
     Director at Large ~ B. Morgyn Taylor, CCM (Fremont General)
     Immediate Past Pres. ~ Richard Bort, CCM (Bort & Company, Inc.)

Upcoming Events

June 14, 2002 Monthly Meeting (Click here to register)
"Cash Management: Meeting Today's Challenges, Anticipating Tomorrow's Technology"

From the largest corporation to the smallest start-up, businesses look for personal attention and customized service from a financial institution-all in a 24x7 business environment. How can financial institutions meet these demands and compete effectively in today's marketplace and in tomorrow's? How is Internet Cash Management going to evolve one, three or even five years from now?

Byran Laws, AAP is Director of Digital Insight's (Nasdaq: DGIN www.digitalinsight.com) Business Solutions products. In this role, Laws is responsible for heading up all of the company's Internet cash management initiatives and other commercial Internet financial solutions. Laws has an extensive background in the areas of Cash Management, Corporate Electronic Products, Automated Clearing house, Bill Payment, Cash Concentration and Payroll services.

Prior to joining Digital Insight in October 2000, he held the title of vice president at City National Bank where he managed all of the bank's electronic commercial products.

Prior to CNB, Laws held a position as vice president in Product Management at Wells Fargo where he managed the 5^th largest Automated Clearing House and Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) products. Before Wells, Laws was employed at First Interstate Bancorp where he was involved in the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and the Automated Clearing House (ACH) products.

Mr. Laws possesses an M.B.A. in Finance/Marketing from Pepperdine University and a B.A. in Finance and Economics from Rockhurst College in Kansas City, MO, and he earned NACHA's Accredited ACH Professional credential.

NOTE: There is no meeting scheduled for July. The next regularly scheduled meeting will be on Friday, August 9, 2002.

Legislative Update (Reprinted from www.afponline.org)

107th Congress
The House approved the first Enron-inspired legislation by a vote of 334-90. CAARTA, or The Corporate and Auditing Accountability, Responsibility, and Transparency Act (H.R. 3763), would overhaul the rules governing corporate disclosure and auditing.

Deposit Insurance Reform
The Federal Deposit Insurance Reform Act of 2002 (H.R. 3717) was approved by a 52-2 vote by the House Financial Services Committee, and referred for action to the full House, likely during the week of May 14.

Stock Options
Senators McCain (R-AZ) and Levin (D-MI) introduced Ending the Double Standard for Stock Options Act (S. 1940) that would allow companies to deduct costs for stock options issued to employees only when they have recorded an equal expense in the financial statement. In the House, Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA) introduced a companion bill (H.R. 4075). AFP has aligned itself with a coalition which opposes these and other bills that would require the expensing of stock options granted to employees.

Regulation of Rating Agencies
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it is conducting a formal inquiry into how credit rating agencies operate, their performance, and the competitive effect of SEC regulation. Rating agencies have been criticized for not modifying ratings of companies whose finances were rapidly deteriorating - including Enron - until the last minute.

Money Laundering
On April 23, the U.S. Department of the Treasury issued interim rules which require mutual fund companies, operators of credit card systems, registered broker-dealers, futures commission merchants, and money services businesses to adopt anti-money laundering programs similar to those that are required at banks. Treasury plans to issue rules within six months that would extend similar requirements to insurance firms, travel agents, car dealers, and other businesses.

Consolidations
The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has a fast-track project to provide guidance for determining when a company, the primary beneficiary, should consolidate a special purpose entity (SPE).

SEC Proposes Changes to Corporate Disclosure Rules
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed to include information on critical accounting policies in the Management's Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) section of annual reports, registration statements and proxy and information statements.

FASB Exposure Draft on Derivatives
FASB issued an exposure draft in May to amend the definition of a derivative in FAS 133 Accounting for Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities. The purpose is to improve financial reporting by requiring that financial contracts with comparable characteristics be accounted for in the same way.

Recent Court Decisions
State courts have recently handed down the following decisions involving check payments:

By agreement between the bank and its customer, the bank may shorten the one-year period after receiving the bank statement that customers normally have to notify the bank about unauthorized signatures and alterations on checks (Virginia).
Banks have the legal right to process overdrawn checks in any order. Large dollar checks may be processed before small dollar checks, even if that results in higher fees to the customer (Illinois, Ohio, Tennessee).

The Uniform Commercial Code that governs payments is applied on a state-by-state basis, but these decisions may be indicative of court opinions elsewhere.

Monthly Meetings
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�2002, Southern California Association for Financial Professionals

NOTE: There is no meeting scheduled for July. The next regularly scheduled meeting will be on Friday, August 9, 2002

SCAFP partners with UBOC for CCM review Course

Union Bank of California has invited SCAFP members who are candidates for the CCM examination to participate in the UBOC-sponsored CCM Review Course to be held in the fall in advance of the November-December CCM exam period. The course will be provided by the AFP. Contact the SCAFP office for details at (818) 843-5660, or SCAFP@emaoffice.com.

New Members
Ms. Terri Williams, Treasurer, Sares-Regis Group in Irvine

Ms. Ursula Chamberlin, Treasury Analyst, American Honda Finance in Torrance

Winners at Symposium Drawings

Congratulations to the three lucky attendees at the EXPO L.A. Symposium 2002 who went home winners of valuable prizes in "door prize" drawings. They are:

Angelique Lim, Occidental Petroleum � Corporate Cash Management Handbook ($245 value), courtesy of Dick Bort, author of the book

Christi Ritter, City National Bank � a 1-year subscription to Leahy Newsletter ($400 value), courtesy of Bob Leahy, editor and publisher

Penny Lin, American Honda Finance � pair of tickets to the NAPA Auto Parts 500 at California Speedway, April 28, 2002 (value $250), courtesy of Richard Drutman, AT Systems, inc.