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| COVER STORY |
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ASSET
LITE
Li & Fung
has inspired traders in Asia with its unique asset-light
business model. Noble Group is using the model as well
with its commodity-based business. Li & Fung's CFO
runs the company's back-end machinery, while Noble's CFO
runs the equivalent of an internal bank. The wide range
of functions these CFOs manage makes them more business
partners than employees.
read
the entire story |
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| SPECIAL REPORT: CASH & TREASURY
MANAGEMENT |
THE
PERFECT TREASURY
The treasurer remains the CEO of
cashflow, the most prized metric of any company's financial
health. And the key to managing that metric is information:
knowing a company's financial position and risk exposure at
any given time. Today, there is no excuse for bad treasury
management, thanks to the risk management capabilities that
emerging technologies allow. |
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| CFO ROUNDTABLE: BEYOND ENRON |
WHAT
COMES NEXT
While the collapse of Enron has
so far had little impact on Asia, US congressional rulings
that come as a result will. Already, a shift in investor sentiment
is making Asian companies think twice about how they handle
off-balance-sheet liabilities. But the question is: should
the market decide, or should the US government make regulatory
changes that will have an impact around the world? A group
of regulators and industry standard-setters come together
to discuss what's necessary to prevent future Enrons. |
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| SPECIAL REPORT: REGIONAL TAX SURVEY
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READY
TO POUNCE
With its high-octane
growth slowing on one side and foreign investment pouring in
on the other, China is hungrily looking at tax. The result is
that it will launch its biggest tax reform initiative and most
aggressive tax collection drive in decades. And for details
of taxes around the region, our 2002 Regional Tax Update reviews
the tax status in 11 countries. |
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| MONEYWATCH |
CAPS
OFF
Companies in countries
with currency controls are starting to break the barriers of
sovereign caps. But even more telling, investors are sometimes
discounting the caps when these companies go to the markets
to raise funds. And countries themselves are also occasionally
getting better rates than the sovereign cap would warrant. For
these countries, the cap is becoming less rule than rule-of-thumb.
Asian spreads to US treasuries continue to rally. |
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| DEALWATCH |
LOAN
RANGERS
In a precedent-setting transaction
for China, its banks came up with the largest loan to a foreign
company to date. More remarkable is that the banks were lending
in US dollars, proving that China's banks are more competitive
than originally thought. |
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| TECHWATCH |
WEB SPINNERS
Web Spinners: Webcasting is starting
to help companies target potential investors outside the region
with a minimum of cost.
Depending on the cost, videoconferencing can be either high-
or low-tech. Although improving, it will never replace the
handshake. |
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| POINT OF VIEW |
SPOON-FED FINANCE
Giving the CEO a concise, easily understood
summary of the numbers can be one of the CFO's toughest jobs.
Here's one CFO's solution. |
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| CFO IT – SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT |
| STARTING OVER
Can a reformed dot.com make it
in today's world? CFO Daniel Widdicombe thinks the answer
is yes.
DESKBOUND FOR GLORY
The PC market may be stagnant,
but today even an old machine can take a knowledge worker
new places.
CORE VALUE
ERP vendors may stack up differently
- but their basic financial applications rarely do.
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