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Alphabet Inc.’s Google is working to automate as many finance tasks as possible as it looks to reduce the amount of manual work that its employees have to do.

Companies looking to tap the debt markets will likely accelerate those plans after Federal Reserve minutes revealed that half-percentage point rises in interest rates might be in the offing to curb inflation.

Boards increasingly are looking for expertise on ESG, cyber and other issues. That means CFOs have to bring more than just their finance experience if they want a seat at the table.

Finance chiefs at Western companies that continue to operate and sell products in Russia have to decide what to do with the profits generated from those businesses.

“No one’s going to buy it,” Lush CEO Mark Constantine says of the company’s minority stake in Russia. Instead, he expects the business to run out of inventory and wind down.

Ratings company S&P Global Inc. is dismissing employees as it winds down its operations in Russia amid the country’s war with Ukraine, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Discovery Inc.’s finance chief in recent days faced the challenge of having to secure $30 billion in funding for its planned merger with AT&T Inc.’s media business in volatile markets and with a tight window.

Companies that previously locked in energy prices are being shielded from surging gas, oil and electricity markets, but that protection will fade as hedges expire and the costs of new ones catch up with today’s higher energy prices.

Finance chiefs and treasurers expect to earn higher interest on cash piles parked at banks once interest rates go up, but banks, awash with trillions of dollars in deposits, might take their time before they pay commercial customers more.

Companies are putting the brakes on planned initial public offerings and other equity capital markets transactions as investors pull back following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.