AccessMyLibrary provides FREE access to over 30 million articles from top publications available through your library.

Lawmakers introduce 30 bills to address problems created by Enron, Andersen.(Chicago Tribune)

Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service

| March 29, 2002 | Manor, Robert | COPYRIGHT 2002 McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)Copyright

CHICAGO _ The disintegration of Enron and the public torment of the Andersen accounting firm have inspired dozens of proposed laws and regulations in Washington, but some accounting observers warn that impetuous legislators could do more harm than good.

Although the Congressional investigation into Andersen and Enron is far from complete, lawmakers have introduced at least 30 bills they say will address the problems created by the two firms.

There are bills that would divorce the auditing and consulting functions of accounting firms to prevent the possibility of conflict of interest. Another would require companies to change auditors periodically, so auditor and client could not grow to cozy. Yet another bill would ban auditors from going to work for their clients for seven years after leaving accounting firms, to head off auditors giving favorable reviews to a potential employer.

One bill would even "establish a Federal Bureau of Audits within the Securities and Exchange Commission to conduct audits of all publicly registered companies" _ a proposal that would create thousands of government jobs for CPA's.

Some in the financial world say Congress could be going too far. The fear is that the laws will create new problems, worse than those they prevent, in the futile pursuit of total honesty.

Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan got into the act this month, warning that Congress should guard against imposing too much regulation on accountants. "Regulation has, over the years, proven only partially successful in dissuading individuals from playing with the rules of accounting," Greenspan said in a speech at New York University, using unusually direct language.

Chicago-based Andersen audited the books of Enron, telling shareholders all was well with the Houston energy company. In reality, Enron had set up a series of partnerships to conceal debt and inflate earnings. When the scheme came to light last year, Enron rapidly fell into bankruptcy while Andersen auditors shredded tons of documents.

Related articles from newspapers, magazines, journals, and more
Enron stock plummets as SEC probe targets certain transactions.(Enron Corp....
Magazine article from: Houston Business Journal October 26, 2001 700+ words
Enron Corp., a Houston-based...said the Securities and Exchange Commission has asked for information...related party transactions. Enron's stock closed Oct. 22...closing price fell below Enron's 52-week low of $24...
Enron's Cooperation Could Help in Securities and Exchange Commission Probe.
Newspaper article from: Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News November 28, 2001 700+ words
...attitude that could help get Enron Corp. off the hook in its...head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Chairman Harvey Pitt has...likely they could be applied to Enron in the SEC investigation...sheet partnerships formed by Enron's former CFO, Andrew Fastow...
Securities and Exchange Commission Requests Documents on Enron Audits.
Newspaper article from: Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News December 1, 2001 700+ words
...search for answers on how Enron Corp. could have fallen from...Friday. The Securities and Exchange Commission has issued a subpoena calling...documents relating to its Enron audits. "We did receive...our financial reporting on Enron, which is a customary part...
Local CPAs react to fallout from Enron's cooked books.(Securities Exchange...
Magazine article from: Fairfield County Business Journal Prezioso, Jeanine January 28, 2002 700+ words
The aftereffects of Enron Corp.'s tipsy balance sheets have the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman calling for...finding out what happened with Enron." Plain English The chief...results of operations." Enron had established several third...
The right to know. (Comment).(Securities and Exchange Commission's role in...
Magazine article from: Los Angeles Business Journal Lacter, Mark January 28, 2002 700+ words
...luck. The Securities and Exchange Commission, the agency supposedly monitoring...appear in one of its films. At Enron, a remarkable amount of data...well beyond those creeps at Enron. The Washington Post Co...they presumably work for. If Enron has demonstrated anything...
SEC seeks to ease post-Enron reforms: The Securities and Exchange Commission is...
News wire article from: The America's Intelligence Wire February 14, 2007 700+ words
...Post) WASHINGTON - The Securities and Exchange Commission has begun to take steps on two fronts...a major retrenchment from the post-Enron reforms and showed that a lobbying push...were adopted following the collapse of Enron in 2001 and the huge accounting fraud...
Answering the outrage: reacting to the public chorus of disapproval, Congress,...
Magazine article from: Internal Auditor Zwirn, Ed February 1, 2003 700+ words
...too much past the time of Enron and it was just before WorldCom...Institutions. "Six months after Enron, The New York Times published...deference to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and regulators, the...LaRocco. The roots of the Enron collapse started exactly one...
Retailers, vendors facing crackdown.(ENRON FALLOUT)(United States Securities...
Newspaper article from: The Kiplinger Letter March 28, 2003 700+ words
Retailers and vendors face a crackdown on abusive use of tactics that make stockholders think their sales are better than they really are. The Securities and Exchange Comm. will levy penalties in a widening probe involving underpayment of suppliers for delivery problems, overshipping by vendors to
Accounting industry has tough new sheriff in town.(ENRON FALLOUT)(United States...
Newspaper article from: The Kiplinger Letter March 28, 2003 700+ words
The accounting industry has a tough new sheriff in town the SEC's Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. PCAOB will insist that foreign accounting firms meet all of its registration requirements. The next indicator of its direction will be who gets picked for chairman.
Harvey's headache; America's SEC; Watchdog woes.(troubles of Securities and...
Magazine article from: Global Agenda October 8, 2002 700+ words
...the Securities and Exchange Commission, had promised to have...the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), America...failing to regulate Enron, a collapsed energy...investigation into Enron's bankruptcy last...
For more facts and information, see all results
©2009 Gale, a part of Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
About us | FAQs | Contact us | Privacy policy | Terms and conditions
Other Gale sites: Encyclopedia.com | HighBeam Research | Acquire Content | Books & Authors | Goliath | MovieRetriever | Smart QandA