PARSIPPANY, N.J. -- Jackson Hewitt Tax Service has named Philip H. Sanford as president and CEO as the previous occupant of that job, Harry W. Buckley, stepped aside. Sanford was most recently EVP of strategy and performance measurement and stepped up as the company's outlook brightened a bit in the last month.

Buckley, a former H&R Block CEO, had taken over the CEO job in June 2009. He remains as a special advisor to the president and as a member of the board of directors. Sanford, who joined the tax preparation company in August, previously served as COO of Value Place, an extended stay hotel chain, and as CEO of The Krystal Co., which operates quick-service restaurants.

The good news in the last two weeks included the fact that Jackson Hewitt's share price has now climbed above $2 per share and the company is in compliance with listing requirements for minimum share price with NASDAQ. However, it still does not meet the exchange's minimum equity capitalization requirements. Violation of either requirement over an extended period could lead to the company's stock being delisted.

The other good news came when the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency at the end of December barred HSBC from funding a refund anticipation loan program for Block. Jackson Hewitt had struggled last year when Block had RALs and it was able to get funding from Republic Bank for only 50 percent of its locations. This year, Republic is funding 90 percent of the chain's business and Jackson Hewitt's ads are prominently telling the public that it has RALs available.