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When readers of Physics World recently voted for their favourite equations, it was no surprise when Clerk Maxwell's electromagnetism theory, which established the link between magnetism and electricity, topped the poll. Maxwell's 1873 classic beat strong competition from the likes of Einstein's e=mc2, and Pythagoras's a2 + b2 = c2. But the poll also sounded a word of warning for investors. Schrödinger's equation (HY = EY), which finished fifth in the poll, was devised by Erwin Schrödinger in the 1920s to explain how sub-atomic particles like electrons behave. As such, Cambridge, UK-based company quantumBEAM decided to design its radical optical communications technology around Schrödinger's work.

Almost two-thirds of companies support a new international accounting standard requiring them to expense employee share options in their financial statements, according to a survey by Mercer Human Resource Consulting.

SG Corporate & Investment Banking (SG CIB) has appointed Demetrio Salorio as head of Debt Capital Markets Origination for Financial Institutions. Based in London, Demetrio Salorio will report directly to Arnaud Achour, head of Debt Capital Markets Origination.

BNP Paribas has appointed Peter Michel as head of DCM corporate client coverage in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and Mike Meiss as senior derivatives marketer to German and Austrian corporate clients, both within Fixed Income.

UK budget airline easyJet has appointed 43-year-old Jeff Carr as its new finance director as of January 2005, replacing Chris Walton.

Marshal Morris has resigned as CFO of US air pollution control company CECO Environmental to pursue another career opportunity. Morris says: ?Leaving CECO was a hard and difficult decision for me to make but a unique opportunity was presented to me that I think will be for the long-term benefit of my family.?

Brady Corporation, the software solutions and speciality materials manufacturer, has promoted Barbara Bolens to the role of treasurer, after spending nine years as assistant treasurer. She will have complete responsibility for treasury functions, including risk management.

Increasing regulation - OFRs in the UK, Nouvelles Régulations Economiques in France, social & environmental reporting in Scandinavia & the Netherlands - is forcing companies to report more and more detail making it difficult for shareholders to see the big picture according to a new survey. Europe's top 100 companies are facing a growing mountain of regulation, leading to thicker and thicker annual reports, according to the latest edition of the Company Report Report, from Prowse & Co, the corporate communications consultancy.

French state-owned electricity supplier Electricité de France (EdF) announced yesterday that it is planning a share sale of between ?8 billion and ?11 billion ($10.5 billion to $14.5 billion) next year, in what will be the largest share offering ever in France. The French government gave the go ahead for the sale of 30% of EdF's share capital after an independent report on the company's financial needs declared that only an issue of that volume would enable EdF to ?maintain its leading position among Europe's energy suppliers?.

Massey Energy, the US's fourth largest coal company, has promoted Eric Tolbert to CFO. The way was opened for Holbert's appointment when James Gardner resigned as chief administrative officer in October of this year. That role is to be filled by current CFO Baxter Philips, leaving the way open for Holbert to take the reigns as finance chief.

Failure to fully implement SOx requirements is costing CFOs their jobs, according to a report by ARC Morgan. The study, entitled ?Using reported weakness disclosures to benchmark internal control?, surveyed 350 companies registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). It found that the disclosure of deficiencies in a company's financial reporting had resulted in more than 60% of CFOs losing their jobs ? either by resigning or being pushed out.

Corporates registered with the SEC in the US need to be aware of the sweeping changes affecting audit committees there, or risk being surprised by changing practices, according to a new study by Independent Audit Limited. The governance and compliance consultancy has warned companies, particularly in the UK, that they need to work out how to manage their risks in the new Sarbanes-Oxley environment, specifically the responsibility placed on audit committees to overview financial reporting and controls.