Green Plains Renewable Energy today announced a new CFO and the market is responding postively - currently trading up over 2% at 21.5 (see our time-delayed prices here).

According to the press release, the new CFO, Brian L. Larson "will be responsible for cash control and management and building and managing the accounting team. He will assist in raising capital and managing debt agreements, and will providing strategic planning to grow the Company through expansion of current plants under construction, the construction of additional new plants and will also assist the Company in locating and evaluating potential acquisitions. Further, Mr. Larson will assist the Company in its Sarbanes-Oxley and Securities and Exchange Commission compliance."

This man is going to have his hands full. But actually, it's the last bit that most interests me. "Investor relations" didn't exist a few years ago. Then a tab for it started appearing on the websites of all listed companies and now whole departments have been created to deal with investors. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act has made regulatory compliance so costly that this bureaucracy seems only likely to grow. No wonder it is now a major part of any new CFO's portfolio.