Posted on 03/07/2002 12:53:28 PM PST by Willie Green
Edited on 09/03/2002 4:50:02 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
CHICAGO -- Blue-chip corporations have joined the increasing exodus of clients from Arthur Andersen LLP, including Delta Air Lines on Thursday, intensifying questions about whether the accounting giant can survive the Enron scandal.
Delta's firing of Andersen as its auditor after 53 years came a day after Freddie Mac took the same action. Including recent defections by Merck Inc. and SunTrust Banks, Andersen is known to have lost about three dozen public companies as auditing clients this year.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...
On this point, we agree. Never did a company deserve to die such a cruel corporate death as does Andersen today.
The danger, however, is that Andersen is transferring its assets overseas even as we speak. I've seen them in action, and it would surprise me if they didn't plan to continue on doing business in the rest of the world, safe from liability by legal tricks, foreign protection, and name changes through various means.
If there is something that Democrats and Republicans should agree upon, it is that Andersen be forbidden from moving its assets out of the USA until after their forthcoming lawsuits are settled.
Agreed.<P.
Four years later, the cost had reached over $140 million, and they still weren't done. We pulled the plug on them and said it WAS done. Of course it didn't work right, which cost us probably another $100 million in related expenses.
I have no doubt what you say is correct,but is it possible that the problems with Andersen consulting are more noticeable because they are so prominent? Frankly, my guess is that what you have described is a fairly common occurence with most large consulting practices.
BTW, do you know what the average workweek for an Andersen consultant is? 80-100 hours per week is not uncommon, at least in the big cities. I wonder if that has anything to do with their effectiveness.
I do have sympathy for Andersen employees. The recklessness occurred at the top, not among the people who actually work the books and systems.
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