Monthly Archives: March 2020

“Beyond Disappointing” and “Deeply Disturbing Conduct”

New Wells Fargo CEO, Charles Scharf, testifying before the House Financial Services Committee, regarding the findings of a House report on behaviors at Wells since the time of the discovery of the 3.5 million fake accounts, give or take a … Continue reading

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Barclays CEO Might Not Have Been Candid

Mercy! These CEOs. The Barometer is thinking of a new book — The Seven Things CEOs Do That Cost Them and Their Companies Dearly. Lack of candor would be one of them. Here comes Jes Staley, CEO of Barclays. Do … Continue reading

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“Boeing CEO Regrets Candor”

There’s a headline that inspires confidence in the new leadership of a company that has been struggling with, well, candor with the public, with regulators, and with itself. Alison Sider and Andrew Tangel, Wall Street Journal, March 9, 2020. New … Continue reading

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The Goodwill Accounting Trap: Newell Brands Gets an SEC Subpoena

Newell Brands (Rubbermaid) has received a subpoena from the SEC following informal information requests. Uh oh! Newell purchased a competitor (Jarden) in 2016 for $20 billion. That brought $8.3 billion in goodwill to its books and, as a bonus, quadrupled … Continue reading

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Former Baltimore Mayor Gets Three Years

Catherine Pugh made $800,000 selling her self-published children’s health books to those nonprofits and foundations that could benefit from the Mayor’s noblesse oblige in spreading around city grants and funding to those purchasing the books. There were issues with failure … Continue reading

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