Cash America 2008 Annual Report Download - page 39

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administration from Auburn University and a master's degree in business management from the University
of Central Texas.
Thomas A. Bessant, Jr. has been the Company’s Executive Vice President – Chief Financial Officer
since July 1998. He joined the Company in May 1993 as Vice President – Finance and Treasurer and was
elected Senior Vice President – Chief Financial Officer in July 1997. Prior to joining the Company, Mr.
Bessant was a Senior Manager in the Corporate Finance Consulting Services Group of Arthur Andersen &
Co., S.C. in Dallas, Texas from June 1989 to April 1993. Prior to that, Mr. Bessant was a Vice President in
the Corporate Banking Division of NCNB Texas, N.A., and its predecessor banking corporations, beginning
in 1981.
J. Curtis Linscott became Executive Vice President – General Counsel and Secretary in May 2006.
He was appointed Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary in May 2005. Mr. Linscott
joined the Company in 1995, serving as Associate General Counsel and Vice President – Associate General
Counsel. Before joining the Company, he was in private law practice with Kelly, Hart & Hallman, P.C.,
Fort Worth, Texas, for five years. He received his law degree from the University of Kansas School of Law
in 1990.
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
Important risk factors that could cause results or events to differ from current expectations are
described below. These factors are not intended to be an all-encompassing list of risks and uncertainties that
may affect the operations, performance, development and results of the Company’s business.
x Adverse changes in laws or regulations affecting the Company’s short-term consumer loan
services could negatively impact the Company’s operations. The Company’s products and services
are subject to extensive regulation and supervision under various federal, state and local laws,
ordinances and regulations. The Company faces the risk that restrictions or limitations resulting from
the enactment, change, or interpretation of laws and regulations could negatively affect the Company’s
business activities or effectively eliminate some of the Company’s current loan products. In particular,
short-term consumer loans have come under increased regulatory scrutiny in recent years that has
resulted in increasingly restrictive regulations and, in at least one state, legislation that makes offering
such loans impractical. Some legislative or regulatory activity may limit the amount of interest and fees
to levels that would not permit such loans to be feasible or limit the number of short-term loans that
customers may receive or have outstanding. Regulations adopted by some states require that all
borrowers of certain short-term loan products be listed on a database and limit the number of such loans
a borrower may have outstanding. Other regulations limit the availability of the Company’s cash
advance products to active duty military personnel. Certain consumer advocacy groups and federal and
state legislators have also asserted that laws and regulations should be tightened so as to severely limit,
if not eliminate, the availability of certain cash advance products to consumers, despite the significant
demand for it. In particular, both the executive and legislative branches of the federal government have
recently exhibited an increasing interest in debating legislation that could further regulate short-term
consumer loan products. Adoption of additional federal or state regulations or legislation could restrict,
or even eliminate, the availability of cash advance products in some or all of the states in which the
Company offers a short term cash advance product.
In addition to state and federal laws and regulations, the Company’s business is subject to various local
rules and regulations such as local zoning regulation and permit licensing. Local jurisdictions’ efforts to
restrict pawnshop operations and cash advance lending through the use of local zoning and permitting
laws have been on the increase. Actions taken in the future by local governing bodies to require special
use permits for, or impose other restrictions on pawnshops or cash advance lenders could have a
material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.