Headlines:
Tier Chief Quits After Delisting
James R. Weaver resigned as the chairman and chief executive of Tier Technologies Inc. after an audit committee recommended that he leave the beleaguered Reston, Va., credit-card tax-payment company.
Tier announced his departure last week. Its failure to file timely financial reports caused its stock to be delisted from the Nasdaq on May 25.
Ronald L. Rossetti, a board member, has been named the interim CEO, and Tier is looking for a successor.
The company processes card payments for taxes through its Official Payments Corp. unit, and it collects child-support payments from noncustodial parents on behalf of several state governments. It has said it failed to file an annual report for the last fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, or for the first two quarters of this fiscal year because of accounting problems related to bounced child-support checks.
Tier had a May 5 deadline for filing the earnings statements, but in March, Nasdaq granted it an extension until June 5. As part of that agreement, Tier was required to submit a report on its investigation of the financial problems. That report was submitted May 12, but on May 24 Nasdaq told Tier that the report was inadequate, and that its stock would be delisted.
Mr. Rossetti is a member of the independent audit committee that has been investigating Tier's financial status, but he will step down from the panel, because he is no longer considered independent. 
Merrill - First Data Undervalued
First Data Corp., which is preparing to spin off its Western Union Financial Services, may be an undervalued stock.
Gregory Smith, an analyst for Merrill Lynch & Co., wrote in a research note issued Friday that the Denver processor's parts - Western Union and the card processing operations - are worth more separately than their current value together. The stock "remains our top large-cap pick."
First Data's stock traded at $45 to $47 a share this week. Mr. Smith said that the Western Union operation is worth about $31.50, and the remaining card operations are worth about $23.11, according to their cash flow.
The company has said it expects to complete the spinoff in the fourth quarter; Mr. Smith expects it to be completed in late September or early October.
