Chemours announced its CFO Jonathan Lock has resigned from all positions within the company, according to an SEC 8-K filing on April 23. The resignation comes in the aftermath of the company announcing that Lock, former CEO Mark Newman, and principal accounting officer Camela Wisel, had been placed on administrative leave and were found to have engaged in unethical financial practices. Newman resigned from his officer and director positions on March 22, replaced by Denise Dignam, according to an SEC filing. Chemours had previously appointed Matthew Abbott as interim CFO.
According to the April 23 filing, Lock will not receive any severance, equity award vesting or other compensation connected to his resignation. However, subject to his effective release of claims against Chemours and his compliance with restrictive covenants per the separation agreement, Lock’s stock options vested before his resignation would still be exercisable for a longer time than would otherwise apply.
The ethics violations were uncovered via an internal investigation by the audit committee of the board of directors and independent outside counsel. The review found the three executives had manipulated cash flows in the fourth quarter of 2023 and the first quarter of 2024 by delaying vendor payments due in Q4 while accelerating receivables collections. The net result was an increase in Q4 cash flows, followed by a corresponding decrease in Q1 of this year. According to the company release, the review was triggered by an anonymous report made to the company’s ethics hotline.
Chemours also reported it is examining material weaknesses in its internal controls, including the effectiveness of the “tone at the top,” as well as the components of the COSO internal control framework.
by Andy Burt
Source: cfo.com
Italy’s Treasury has sold a 2.8% stake in oil and gas company Eni, raising approximately €1.4bn. Despite this reduction, the Italian Government will own a third of Eni, with a combined stake of more than 30% held between the Treasury and state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, which owns another 28.5% stake.
Umicore announces the appointment of Bart Sap as Chief Executive Officer, effective May 16th. He will succeed Mathias Miedreich who has decided to step down, in mutual agreement with the Supervisory Board. Bart Sap joined Umicore in 2004 and has been the Executive Vice President Catalysis since March 2021.
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