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Scottish & Newcastle, the UK-based brewers, used its free cash flow to cut its pension deficit by £157 million ($300 million), according to its preliminary results for the year ending December 31. The company made a one-off special contribution of £200 million at the end of April 2004 after an actuarial valuation showed the pension scheme was in deficit. This reduced the net interest charge on the pension liability for the full year from £17 million to £7 million and the net pension liability in the balance sheet from £419 million to £262 million.

Royal & SunAlliance, the insurance company, has said a move to IFRS will reduce the value of its assets by £400 million ($764 million). The primary cause is the company's £525 million pension deficit which, under IAS 19 – the reporting standard that deals with employee benefits - will have to be recognised on the balance sheet. The pension fund deficit at year end 2004 has not materially changed since the same time the previous year.

Pharmaceutical distributor Alliance Unichem has detailed the extent to which IAS39 will hamper its ability to hedge its foreign currency exposure.

An automated Sarbanes-Oxley controls assessment service that quickly and easily evaluates how effectively companies are using controls capabilities within Oracle, PeopleSoft, and other leading ERP systems has been launched by Answerthink, a strategic business advisory and technology consulting firm. The service is designed to help companies lower the cost of financial controls related to Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, and provides detailed recommendations for how companies can further automate, strengthen, and standardize controls.

Bank of America announced today that Jonathan Moulds is to assume the role of International head of Global Markets, comprising debt and equities for Europe and Asia. Arrington Mixon, who previously ran International Debt, will be returning the USto assume the role of global head of Credit Syndicate. Moulds will return to London from Chicago in April 2005 and will report jointly to William Fall, President, International and to Mark Werner, head of Global Markets, who is based in New York. He will sit on the bank's Global Corporate and Investment Banking Executive Committee.

David FitzPatrick is retiring as CFO of Tyco at year-end to pursue other interests, after three years in the job. He will be replaced on March 7 by Christopher Coughlin, who was previously chief operating officer and CFO at advertising company The Interpublic Group. He has also served as the finance chief of Pharmacia, Nabisco Holdings and Sterling Winthrop.

Ericsson was the first telecom equipment company to regain its investment grade status yesterday in what promises to be a rebound year for the sector.

Shareholders of several large corporates will have been cheered last week by the announcement of share buyback programmes for the coming year. EnCana, the Canadian gas company, announced a share buyback programme for 2005 which is to be funded by the proceeds from its sale of oil and natural gas assets in North America and Ecuador, expected to total $3 billion. The company had previously planned to buy back 5% of its stock, although the Toronto stock exchange has approved plans to buy back as much as 10%.

Surveys conducted by the Federal Reserve confirm that electronic payment transactions in the US have exceeded check payments for the first time. The number of electronic payment transactions totalled 44.5 billion in 2003, while the number of checks paid totalled 36.7 billion, according to recent surveys of US depository financial institutions and electronic payments organizations.

Caterpillar, the manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, has selected Sungard's AvantGard products to support its global treasury operations and will implement the solution using 6 Sigma methodology.

China M&A activity will enjoy a continuation of the strong growth seen in 2004 in the current year, with larger and more complex deals being undertaken, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers' Transaction Services group. The rapid increase in activity is being fuelled by the ongoing restructuring and privatisation of former State Owned Enterprises ("SOEs"), together with strong inbound investment across a range of industries. This is particularly evident in those industries being deregulated where foreign participation was previously restricted to joint ventures and minority stakes.

Sally Smedal, treasurer and controller at Basic American Foods, has assumed the chairmanship of the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP) Board of Directors, succeeding Denise Laussade, vice president of finance at Dan River. Elected by the AFP membership, Smedal will serve as AFP board chairman for a two-year term.