GM Recruits New Accounting Chief

General Motors Co. has hired Thomas Timko, a finance executive at Applied Materials Inc., as chief accounting officer and controller, effective March 18.

He will succeed Nick Cyprus, who will retire on July 15 after six years in the job. Cyprus oversaw GM's accounting in a tumultuous period when securities regulators and the Obama administration's auto task force criticized the company's financial oversight before its 2009 bankruptcy.

Timko has been CAO and controller at Applied Materials, a

Santa Clara, Calif.-based semiconductor maker, since March 2010. He previously held the same titles at Delphi Automotive in 2006-2010. Timko was hired after Delphi disclosed irregular accounting practices. He served during the most of the company's five-year stint in bankruptcy.