These are turbulent times for actuaries, the people who find accountancy too exciting. From The Times:

A row has blown up in the usually tranquil backwater that is the actuarial profession. Members of the Faculty of Actuaries in Scotland and the Institute of Actuaries, which in any event have acted as if joined at the hip for some years now, have until July 23 to vote on a formal merger. There are more than 10,000 eligible to vote. The problem is that the merged body will be known as the Chartered Actuarial Profession and so the most qualified members, the Fellows, will henceforth be known as FCAPS, an unfortunate acronym if you pronounce it at speed.

“You might find that amusing, but some of us really don’t,” grumbles my informant, “Anxious Actuary”. A spokesman for the professional body admits: “I’ve heard a few people saying that. It’s not something we’ve been rushed into. It’s a big change and there will be people who are unhappy about it.”

A compromise has been reached. Existing members can deem themselves FFAs or FIAs, according to affiliation. New entrants will, indeed, be FCAPs. “If you feel like publicising this inanity as soon as possible, we would be enormously grateful,” says Anxious Actuary.

Years ago the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants was forced to re-jig its potentially embarrassing acronym to ACCA. So how about  PFCAS?

More silly name news from the BBC:

Russia's energy giant Gazprom has signed a $2.5bn (£1.53bn) deal with Nigeria's state operated NNPC, to invest in a new joint venture.

The new firm, to be called Nigaz, is set to build refineries, pipelines and gas power stations in Nigeria.

With attitude?