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Subject: [CANSLIM] Who CAN you trust?
Date: Tue, 2 Jul 2002 09:07:29 -0400
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This article from the WSJ just thickens the quagmire for CAN SLIMmers,
some of which will make you laugh while crying (or throwing up)! (The
red hi-liting is mine.)
Duke
<http://online.wsj.com/home> The Wall Street Journal
July 1, 2002
<http://online.wsj.com/img/b.gif>
CALLED TO ACCOUNT
<http://online.wsj.com/img/b.gif>
Companies Swap Fired Auditors;
Big Four Share Taint of Scandal
Switching Accountants Now Means
Hiring a Firm Dismissed Elsewhere
By SCOT J. PALTROW
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
<http://online.wsj.com/img/b.gif>
With only four big accounting firms left, the ever-expanding list of
corporate accounting scandals is making for strange musical chairs.
In October, Xerox Corp., faced with accusations of grossly overstating
its revenue, dismissed auditor KPMG LLP, which remains under Securities
and Exchange Commission investigation for its work at Xerox. To replace
KPMG, Xerox hired PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.
In April, Allied Irish Banks PLC, reeling from $691 million in losses it
says were caused by a rogue trader, did just the opposite: It fired
PricewaterhouseCoopers as its auditor, and hired KPMG.
SPECIAL PAGE
<http://online.wsj.com/img/g.gif>
<http://online.wsj.com/img/b.gif>
Go to <http://online.wsj.com/page/0,,2_0801,00.html> Called to Account1
Dollar General Corp. and PNC Financial Services Group Inc. did a similar
de facto swap. Hit with an accounting scandal last year that required it
to restate three years of financial statements, Dollar General later
fired Deloitte & Touche LLP and hired Ernst & Young LLP. Meanwhile, PNC
Financial Services fired Ernst and hired Deloitte. Ernst is under SEC
investigation for transactions it promoted and approved at PNC.
Examples of such trades abound. And investors who felt relieved when
their companies dropped Arthur Andersen LLP, recently convicted of a
felony, may be in for a surprise. The remaining firms are hiring about
690 Andersen partners, many of whom will remain in charge of auditing
the very same companies they did before, spokesmen at two firms
confirmed.
All of which leaves questions about whether, amid a mammoth crisis in
confidence in companies' books, investors should feel reassured when
their company switches auditors.
Each of the remaining four big firms is under at least one formal SEC
investigation. There may also be Justice Department investigations. All
four face lawsuits by investors in companies they audited. And big
public companies, which remain reluctant to hire a smaller accounting
firm, almost always retain one of the four. "Yet there isn't one of
these firms that hasn't had one of these disasters," says accounting
Prof. Douglas Carmichael at Baruch College in New York City.
The big audit firms have strongly denied any wrongdoing, and said they
were victims of deception by the companies they audited. And they say
the SEC investigations draw attention away from the vast majority of
their audits that have had no problems.
But with new scandals appearing almost daily, critics say that restoring
investor confidence in a company's books will take more than a mere
shuffling of auditors.
"Within all of the firms there continues to be the performance of lax
audits," says former SEC chief accountant Lynn Turner. He adds, "Time
and time again the auditors are missing numbers so big it's literally
like driving past Mount Everest and never noticing it."
Mr. Turner says that when a company switches auditors, the new auditor
often unearths problems the old one didn't. But he says problems crop up
as the new auditors inevitably develop closer relationships with their
new clients. As a result, he and many investor advocates maintain,
restoration of confidence will depend largely on how far Congress, the
Bush administration and the SEC are willing to go in toughening
oversight of the accounting industry.
The reform fight is now in Congress. The Big Four, and especially the
industry trade organization, the American Institute of Certified Public
Accountants, are fighting tooth and nail against the more far-reaching
aspects of proposed reform, supporting what critics say is the weakest
of several reform proposals pending in Washington, a
Republican-sponsored bill passed in the House.
Barry Melancon, the AICPA's chief executive, says the organization's
members now support more reform measures than they ever dreamed they
would, including a new board to oversee the monitoring of audit quality.
But Mr. Melancon says that despite public clamor for tougher regulation,
it's important for the AICPA to oppose measures he says will ultimately
hurt not just auditing firms but investors. Foremost among these is the
proposal in a Senate bill that would take the setting of auditing
standards away from the industry. This, Mr. Melancon contends, will make
for worse rather than better audits. He likens it to "saying that
standards for how you operate should be made by someone other than a
surgeon."
But reform backers say the current, industry-set audit standards are at
the heart of the problem, failing to require firms to dig deeply enough
into companies' books to ferret out the kind of accounting frauds that
have become frequent headline news.
AUDIT CLIENTS PLAY MUSICAL CHAIRS
<http://online.wsj.com/img/g.gif>
<http://online.wsj.com/img/b.gif>
Some recent changes in outside auditors:
FIRED HIRED
Deloitte & Touche Adelphia PricewaterhouseCoopers
PricewaterhouseCoopers Allied Irish Banks KPMG
Ernst & Young Computer Associates KPMG
Deloitte & Touch Dollar General Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young PNC Financial Services Deloitte & Touche
KPMG Valley National Bancorp Ernst & Young
KPMG Xerox PricewaterhouseCoopers
As the reform battle plays out, the firms themselves say there is no
reason investors now shouldn't feel that they are in good hands when
their companies switch auditors. Ernst says that to date it has picked
up about 110 publicly traded companies that had been Andersen clients,
not to mention companies that in recent months have switched from other
firms.
But Ernst is facing several investigations and regulatory action. In
May, the SEC filed civil charges against Ernst for allegedly violating
SEC rules by entering into lucrative business deals with PeopleSoft
Inc., a software company it also audited. Ernst is contesting the
charges. A Dutch affiliate was just fined $400,000 by the SEC for
similar alleged violations; it neither admitted nor denied wrongdoing.
Ernst, meanwhile, is under formal investigation by the SEC for its
alleged role in an accounting fraud in the late 1990s at Cendant Corp.
Ernst already has paid $335 million to settle a lawsuit by investors,
but it denies wrongdoing. The U.S. Attorney in Newark, New Jersey,
recently said he has reopened a criminal investigation into the role of
certain Ernst employees in the Cendant case. Ernst denies that any
employees are targets of the probe. The SEC also has pending
investigations into Ernst's role in alleged accounting deficiencies at
Computer Associates International, Informix Corp., and PNC.
Ernst spokesman Larry Parnell says, "People have to be careful not to
jump to conclusions that because of a series of isolated incidents that
the firm is somehow under a cloud."
Mr. Parnell says his firm is hiring about 230 Andersen partners, and he
confirms that many will continue to audit the same companies they did at
Andersen. He says that the new hires receive thorough "orientation" in
Ernst's rules, and says a veteran Ernst partner is assigned as an
"independent review partner" to make sure the firm's standards are
upheld. Nevertheless, Mr. Parnell says, the former Andersen partner
likely will continue to supervise the same company's audit. "If you've
been running a piece of business for 10 years you don't want to have a
new boss," he says.
PricewaterhouseCoopers says it expects to hire only about 60 Andersen
partners, but former Andersen partners may end up supervising audits of
the same clients they did before. "Prior affiliation with an Andersen
client would not be a disqualification" for auditing it, says
Pricewaterhouse spokesman Steven Silber, although he says the Andersen
partners are being carefully screened and supervised.
Spokesmen for both KPMG and Deloitte refused to say whether former
Andersen partners they have hired will continue to audit the same
companies. Each firm has hired about 200 Andersen partners.
Baruch's Mr. Carmichael says keeping former Andersen partners in charge
of the same audits could blunt the benefits of having a new firm look at
a company's books. "You could in fact have an audit team substantially
unchanged, with nothing but a new firm name," he says.
Deloitte has been stung by the Adelphia Communications fiasco. The
cable-television concern dismissed Deloitte in early June after it was
learned that the firm had served not only as Adelphia's auditors but
also as the auditors for Adelphia's founders, the Rigas family. The
company filed for bankruptcy-court protection following disclosures that
it had guaranteed about $3 billion in loans to the Rigas. The SEC and
Justice Department are investigating Adelphia, and the SEC is known to
be investigating Deloitte's role. Deloitte recently has picked up more
than 140 former Andersen clients. Deloitte declined to comment on its
role in Adelphia or on the SEC investigation.
Why haven't a larger number of public companies turned to the smaller
accounting firms that are eager for more business? There is a second
tier of accounting firms that do audit some public companies, most
notably Chicago-based Grant Thornton and BDO Seidman. Those two firms,
however, have picked up only a handful of Andersen clients. In general,
large companies are concerned that smaller firms lack global offices.
There is also traditional skepticism among investors about lesser-known
accounting firms, and concern by Wall Street underwriters about whether
smaller accounting firms have enough insurance in the event of a lawsuit
over an offering.
- -- Cassell Bryan-Low contributed to this article
Write to Scot J. Paltrow at scot.paltrow@wsj.com2
URL for this article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1025472464207545120.djm,00.html
Hyperlinks in this Article:
(1) http://online.wsj.com/page/0,,2_0801,00.html
(2) mailto:scot.paltrow@wsj.com
Updated July 1, 2002
Copyright 2002 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Printing, distribution, and use of this material is governed by your
Subscription agreement and Copyright laws.
For information about subscribing go to http://www.wsj.com
I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman: Where's the self-help
section? She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose. Henny
Youngman.
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<DIV><SPAN class=3D890005412-02072002><FONT face=3DArial>This article =
from the WSJ=20
just thickens the quagmire for CAN SLIMmers, some of which will make you =
laugh=20
while crying (or throwing up)! (The red hi-liting is=20
mine.)</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=3D890005412-02072002><FONT =
face=3DArial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=3D890005412-02072002><FONT face=3DArial>Duke =20
</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=3D890005412-02072002><FONT =
face=3DArial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=3D890005412-02072002><FONT =
face=3DArial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV id=3Dndiv onmouseover=3DOverNav=3Dtrue style=3D"Z-INDEX: 1; =
POSITION: absolute"=20
onmouseout=3DOverNav=3Dfalse></DIV><A name=3Dtop><!-- ----- =
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height=3D"19"></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD width=3D492><A href=3D"http://online.wsj.com/home"><IMG =
height=3D58=20
alt=3D"The Wall Street Journal"=20
src=3D"http://online.wsj.com/img/compressed_head.gif" width=3D462=20
border=3D0></A></TD>
<TD width=3D125 height=3D67 rowSpan=3D2></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD width=3D492 height=3D20><!-- ----- ---------------- ----- =
- --><!-- ----- Date starts here ----- -->
<P=20
style=3D"MARGIN-TOP: 7px; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 15px; =
MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN-LEFT: 190px; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, =
times, arial">July=20
1, 2002 </P><!-- ----- Date ends here ----- --><!-- ----- =
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<TR>
<TD width=3D617 colSpan=3D2 height=3D21><SPACER type=3D"block" =
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<TR>
<TD width=3D20><IMG height=3D1 =
src=3D"http://online.wsj.com/img/b.gif" width=3D20=20
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<TD width=3D617>
<TABLE cellSpacing=3D0 cellPadding=3D0 width=3D617 border=3D0>
<TBODY>
<TR height=3D28>
<TD class=3DboldPumpkinSixteen vAlign=3Dtop colSpan=3D3>CALLED =
TO=20
ACCOUNT</TD></TR><!-- Article in DB =
- --></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD width=3D20><IMG height=3D1 =
src=3D"http://online.wsj.com/img/b.gif" width=3D20=20
border=3D0></TD>
<TD width=3D617><SPAN class=3Darticle><!-- --><!-- ID: =
SB1025472464207545120.djm --><!-- LEVEL: normal --><!-- TYPE: =
Questioning the Books --><!-- DISPLAY-NAME: Questioning the Books =
- --><!-- PUBLICATION: "The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition" =
- --><!-- DATE: 2002-07-01 00:01 --><!-- COPY: Dow Jones & =
Company, Inc. --><!-- ORIG-ID: --><!-- article start --><!--
CODE=3DINDUSTRY SYMBOL=3DDAT
- -->
<P class=3DarticleTitle style=3D"MARGIN: 0px">Companies Swap Fired =
Auditors;<BR>Big Four Share Taint of Scandal</P>
<DIV=20
style=3D"PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-BOTTOM: =
0px; MARGIN: 0px; FONT: bold 16px/17px Times New Roman, Times, Serif; =
COLOR: #666; PADDING-TOP: 13px">Switching=20
Accountants Now Means<BR>Hiring a Firm Dismissed =
Elsewhere</DIV><SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT: bold 12px times new roman, times, serif">
<P style=3D"FONT: bold 12px times new roman, times, serif">By =
<B>SCOT J.=20
PALTROW</B> <BR><SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT: bold 10px times new roman, times, serif"><B>Staff =
Reporter of=20
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL</B></SPAN><BR></P></SPAN></SPAN>
<TABLE cellSpacing=3D0 cellPadding=3D0 width=3D200 align=3Dright =
border=3D0>
<TBODY>
<TR>
<TD width=3D20 rowSpan=3D12><IMG height=3D1=20
src=3D"http://online.wsj.com/img/b.gif" width=3D20 =
border=3D0></TD>
<TD width=3D180 height=3D15><SPACER type=3D"block" =
width=3D"180"=20
height=3D"1"></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD><!-- NO PROMINENT COMPANIES =
- --></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><SPAN=20
class=3Darticle>
<P class=3Dtimes>With only four big accounting firms left, the=20
ever-expanding list of corporate accounting scandals is making for =
strange=20
musical chairs.</P>
<P class=3Dtimes>In October, <B>Xerox</B> Corp., faced with =
accusations of=20
grossly overstating its revenue, dismissed auditor KPMG LLP, which =
remains=20
under Securities and Exchange Commission investigation for its =
work at=20
Xerox. To replace KPMG, Xerox hired PricewaterhouseCoopers =
LLP.</P>
<P class=3Dtimes>In April, <B>Allied Irish Banks</B> PLC, reeling =
from $691=20
million in losses it says were caused by a rogue trader, did just =
the=20
opposite: It fired PricewaterhouseCoopers as its auditor, and =
hired=20
KPMG.</P>
<TABLE cellSpacing=3D0 cellPadding=3D1 width=3D254 align=3Dleft =
border=3D0>
<TBODY>
<TR>
<TD vAlign=3Dtop width=3D243 bgColor=3D#cccccc><!-- Start Nest =
- -->
<TABLE cellSpacing=3D0 cellPadding=3D0 width=3D243 =
bgColor=3D#ffffff=20
border=3D0>
<TBODY>
<TR vAlign=3Dtop>
<TD width=3D8 height=3D1 rowSpan=3D99><SPACER =
type=3D"block" width=3D"8"=20
height=3D"1"></TD>
<TD class=3DplnEleven=20
style=3D"PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; PADDING-TOP: 5px"><SPAN=20
class=3DboldThirteen>SPECIAL PAGE</SPAN><BR>
<DIV width=3D"100%"><IMG height=3D1 alt=3D""=20
src=3D"http://online.wsj.com/img/g.gif" =
width=3D"100%"></DIV>
<DIV width=3D"100%"><IMG height=3D5 alt=3D""=20
src=3D"http://online.wsj.com/img/b.gif" =
width=3D"100%"></DIV>
<DIV class=3DplnEleven><A class=3DplnEleven=20
=
href=3D"http://online.wsj.com/page/0,,2_0801,00.html">Go to=20
Called to Account</A><SUP>1</SUP>=20
<P><FONT face=3DArial></FONT></P></DIV></TD>
<TD width=3D8 height=3D1 rowSpan=3D99><SPACER =
type=3D"block" width=3D"8"=20
height=3D"1"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- End Nest =
- --></TD>
<TD width=3D9><SPACER type=3D"block" width=3D"9" =
height=3D"5"></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD width=3D252 colSpan=3D2 height=3D12><SPACER type=3D"block" =
width=3D"252"=20
height=3D"12"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P class=3Dtimes><B>Dollar General</B> Corp. and <B>PNC Financial =
Services=20
Group</B> Inc. did a similar de facto swap. Hit with an accounting =
scandal=20
last year that required it to restate three years of financial =
statements,=20
Dollar General later fired Deloitte & Touche LLP and hired =
Ernst &=20
Young LLP. Meanwhile, PNC Financial Services fired Ernst and hired =
Deloitte. Ernst is under SEC investigation for transactions it =
promoted=20
and approved at PNC.</P>
<P class=3Dtimes>Examples of such trades abound. And investors who =
felt=20
relieved when their companies dropped Arthur Andersen LLP, =
recently=20
convicted of a felony, may be in for a surprise. <FONT =
color=3D#ff0000>The=20
remaining firms are hiring about 690 Andersen partners, many of =
whom will=20
remain in charge of auditing the very same companies they did =
before,=20
spokesmen at two firms confirmed.</FONT></P>
<P class=3Dtimes>All of which leaves questions about whether, amid =
a mammoth=20
crisis in confidence in companies' books, investors should feel =
reassured=20
when their company switches auditors.</P>
<P class=3Dtimes>Each of the remaining four big firms is under at =
least one=20
formal SEC investigation. There may also be Justice Department=20
investigations. All four face lawsuits by investors in companies =
they=20
audited. And big public companies, which remain reluctant to hire =
a=20
smaller accounting firm, almost always retain one of the four. =
"Yet there=20
isn't one of these firms that hasn't had one of these disasters," =
says=20
accounting Prof. Douglas Carmichael at Baruch College in New York=20
City.</P>
<P class=3Dtimes>The big audit firms have strongly denied any =
wrongdoing,=20
and said they were victims of deception by the companies they =
audited. And=20
they say the SEC investigations draw attention away from the vast =
majority=20
of their audits that have had no problems.</P>
<P class=3Dtimes>But with new scandals appearing almost daily, =
critics say=20
that restoring investor confidence in a company's books will take =
more=20
than a mere shuffling of auditors.</P>
<P class=3Dtimes>"Within all of the firms there continues to be =
the=20
performance of lax audits," says former SEC chief accountant Lynn =
Turner.=20
He adds, "Time and time again the auditors are missing numbers so =
big it's=20
literally like driving past Mount Everest and never noticing =
it."</P>
<P class=3Dtimes>Mr. Turner says that when a company switches =
auditors, the=20
new auditor often unearths problems the old one didn't. But he =
says=20
problems crop up as the new auditors inevitably develop closer=20
relationships with their new clients. <FONT color=3D#ff0000>As a =
result, he=20
and many investor advocates maintain, restoration of confidence =
will=20
depend largely on how far Congress, the Bush administration and =
the SEC=20
are willing to go in toughening oversight of the accounting=20
industry.</FONT></P>
<P class=3Dtimes>The reform fight is now in Congress. The Big =
Four, and=20
especially the industry trade organization, the American Institute =
of=20
Certified Public Accountants, are fighting tooth and nail against =
the more=20
far-reaching aspects of proposed reform, supporting what critics =
say is=20
the weakest of several reform proposals pending in Washington, a=20
Republican-sponsored bill passed in the House.</P>
<P class=3Dtimes>Barry Melancon, the AICPA's chief executive, says =
the=20
organization's members now support more reform measures than they =
ever=20
dreamed they would, including a new board to oversee the =
monitoring of=20
audit quality. But Mr. Melancon says that despite public clamor =
for=20
tougher regulation, it's important for the AICPA to oppose =
measures he=20
says will ultimately hurt not just auditing firms but investors. =
Foremost=20
among these is the proposal in a Senate bill that would take the =
setting=20
of auditing standards away from the industry. This, Mr. Melancon =
contends,=20
will make for worse rather than better audits. He likens it to =
"saying=20
that standards for how you operate should be made by someone other =
than a=20
surgeon."</P>
<P class=3Dtimes>But reform backers say the current, industry-set =
audit=20
standards are at the heart of the problem, failing to require =
firms to dig=20
deeply enough into companies' books to ferret out the kind of =
accounting=20
frauds that have become frequent headline news.</P>
<TABLE cellSpacing=3D0 cellPadding=3D1 width=3D254 align=3Dleft =
border=3D0>
<TBODY>
<TR>
<TD vAlign=3Dtop width=3D243 bgColor=3D#cccccc><!-- Start Nest =
- -->
<TABLE cellSpacing=3D0 cellPadding=3D0 width=3D243 =
bgColor=3D#ffffff=20
border=3D0>
<TBODY>
<TR vAlign=3Dtop>
<TD width=3D8 height=3D1 rowSpan=3D99><SPACER =
type=3D"block" width=3D"8"=20
height=3D"1"></TD>
<TD class=3DplnEleven=20
style=3D"PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; PADDING-TOP: 5px"><SPAN=20
class=3DboldThirteen>AUDIT CLIENTS PLAY MUSICAL=20
CHAIRS</SPAN><BR>
<DIV width=3D"100%"><IMG height=3D1 alt=3D""=20
src=3D"http://online.wsj.com/img/g.gif" =
width=3D"100%"></DIV>
<DIV width=3D"100%"><IMG height=3D5 alt=3D""=20
src=3D"http://online.wsj.com/img/b.gif" =
width=3D"100%"></DIV>
<DIV class=3DplnEleven>Some recent changes in outside =
auditors:=20
<P></P>
<TABLE cellSpacing=3D1 cellPadding=3D3 width=3D275 =
border=3D1>
<TBODY>
<TR>
<TD class=3DplnEleven vAlign=3Dtop><B>FIRED</B> =
</TD>
<TD class=3DplnEleven vAlign=3Dtop =
align=3Dmiddle> </TD>
<TD class=3DplnEleven vAlign=3Dtop =
align=3Dmiddle><B>HIRED</B>=20
</TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD class=3DplnEleven vAlign=3Dtop>Deloitte & =
Touche </TD>
<TD class=3DplnEleven vAlign=3Dtop=20
align=3Dmiddle><B>Adelphia</B> </TD>
<TD class=3DplnEleven vAlign=3Dtop=20
align=3Dmiddle>PricewaterhouseCoopers </TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD class=3DplnEleven =
vAlign=3Dtop>PricewaterhouseCoopers=20
</TD>
<TD class=3DplnEleven vAlign=3Dtop =
align=3Dmiddle><B>Allied=20
Irish Banks</B> </TD>
<TD class=3DplnEleven vAlign=3Dtop =
align=3Dmiddle>KPMG </TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD class=3DplnEleven vAlign=3Dtop>Ernst & =
Young </TD>
<TD class=3DplnEleven vAlign=3Dtop =
align=3Dmiddle><B>Computer=20
Associates</B> </TD>
<TD class=3DplnEleven vAlign=3Dtop =
align=3Dmiddle>KPMG </TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD class=3DplnEleven vAlign=3Dtop>Deloitte & =
Touch </TD>
<TD class=3DplnEleven vAlign=3Dtop =
align=3Dmiddle><B>Dollar=20
General</B> </TD>
<TD class=3DplnEleven vAlign=3Dtop =
align=3Dmiddle>Ernst &=20
Young </TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD class=3DplnEleven vAlign=3Dtop>Ernst & =
Young </TD>
<TD class=3DplnEleven vAlign=3Dtop =
align=3Dmiddle><B>PNC=20
Financial Services</B> </TD>
<TD class=3DplnEleven vAlign=3Dtop =
align=3Dmiddle>Deloitte=20
& Touche </TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD class=3DplnEleven vAlign=3Dtop>KPMG </TD>
<TD class=3DplnEleven vAlign=3Dtop =
align=3Dmiddle><B>Valley=20
National Bancorp</B> </TD>
<TD class=3DplnEleven vAlign=3Dtop =
align=3Dmiddle>Ernst &=20
Young </TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD class=3DplnEleven vAlign=3Dtop>KPMG </TD>
<TD class=3DplnEleven vAlign=3Dtop =
align=3Dmiddle><B>Xerox</B>=20
</TD>
<TD class=3DplnEleven vAlign=3Dtop=20
align=3Dmiddle>PricewaterhouseCoopers=20
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></DIV></TD>
<TD width=3D8 height=3D1 rowSpan=3D99><SPACER =
type=3D"block" width=3D"8"=20
height=3D"1"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- End Nest =
- --></TD>
<TD width=3D9><SPACER type=3D"block" width=3D"9" =
height=3D"5"></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD width=3D252 colSpan=3D2 height=3D12><SPACER type=3D"block" =
width=3D"252"=20
height=3D"12"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P class=3Dtimes>As the reform battle plays out, the firms =
themselves say=20
there is no reason investors now shouldn't feel that they are in =
good=20
hands when their companies switch auditors. Ernst says that to =
date it has=20
picked up about 110 publicly traded companies that had been =
Andersen=20
clients, not to mention companies that in recent months have =
switched from=20
other firms.</P>
<P class=3Dtimes>But Ernst is facing several investigations and =
regulatory=20
action. In May, the SEC filed civil charges against Ernst for =
allegedly=20
violating SEC rules by entering into lucrative business deals with =
<B>PeopleSoft</B> Inc., a software company it also audited. Ernst =
is=20
contesting the charges. A Dutch affiliate was just fined $400,000 =
by the=20
SEC for similar alleged violations; it neither admitted nor denied =
wrongdoing.</P>
<P class=3Dtimes>Ernst, meanwhile, is under formal investigation =
by the SEC=20
for its alleged role in an accounting fraud in the late 1990s at=20
<B>Cendant</B> Corp. Ernst already has paid $335 million to settle =
a=20
lawsuit by investors, but it denies wrongdoing. The U.S. Attorney =
in=20
Newark, New Jersey, recently said he has reopened a criminal =
investigation=20
into the role of certain Ernst employees in the Cendant case. =
Ernst denies=20
that any employees are targets of the probe. The SEC also has =
pending=20
investigations into Ernst's role in alleged accounting =
deficiencies at=20
<B>Computer Associates International</B>, Informix Corp., and =
PNC.</P>
<P class=3Dtimes>Ernst spokesman Larry Parnell says, "People have =
to be=20
careful not to jump to conclusions that because of a series of =
isolated=20
incidents that the firm is somehow under a cloud."</P>
<P class=3Dtimes><FONT color=3D#ff0000>Mr. Parnell says his firm =
is hiring=20
about 230 Andersen partners, and he confirms that many will =
continue to=20
audit the same companies they did at Andersen. He says that the =
new hires=20
receive thorough "orientation" in Ernst's rules, and says a =
veteran Ernst=20
partner is assigned as an "independent review partner" to make =
sure the=20
firm's standards are upheld. Nevertheless, Mr. Parnell says, the =
former=20
Andersen partner likely will continue to supervise the same =
company's=20
audit. "If you've been running a piece of business for 10 years =
you don't=20
want to have a new boss," he says.</FONT></P>
<P class=3Dtimes>PricewaterhouseCoopers says it expects to hire =
only about=20
60 Andersen partners, but former Andersen partners may end up =
supervising=20
audits of the same clients they did before. "Prior affiliation =
with an=20
Andersen client would not be a disqualification" for auditing it, =
says=20
Pricewaterhouse spokesman Steven Silber, although he says the =
Andersen=20
partners are being carefully screened and supervised.</P>
<P class=3Dtimes>Spokesmen for both KPMG and Deloitte refused to =
say whether=20
former Andersen partners they have hired will continue to audit =
the same=20
companies. Each firm has hired about 200 Andersen partners.</P>
<P class=3Dtimes>Baruch's Mr. Carmichael says keeping former =
Andersen=20
partners in charge of the same audits could blunt the benefits of =
having a=20
new firm look at a company's books. "You could in fact have an =
audit team=20
substantially unchanged, with nothing but a new firm name," he =
says.</P>
<P class=3Dtimes>Deloitte has been stung by the Adelphia =
Communications=20
fiasco. The cable-television concern dismissed Deloitte in early =
June=20
after it was learned that the firm had served not only as =
Adelphia's=20
auditors but also as the auditors for Adelphia's founders, the =
Rigas=20
family. The company filed for bankruptcy-court protection =
following=20
disclosures that it had guaranteed about $3 billion in loans to =
the Rigas.=20
The SEC and Justice Department are investigating Adelphia, and the =
SEC is=20
known to be investigating Deloitte's role. Deloitte recently has =
picked up=20
more than 140 former Andersen clients. Deloitte declined to =
comment on its=20
role in Adelphia or on the SEC investigation.</P>
<P class=3Dtimes>Why haven't a larger number of public companies =
turned to=20
the smaller accounting firms that are eager for more business? =
There is a=20
second tier of accounting firms that do audit some public =
companies, most=20
notably Chicago-based Grant Thornton and BDO Seidman. Those two =
firms,=20
however, have picked up only a handful of Andersen clients. In =
general,=20
large companies are concerned that smaller firms lack global =
offices.=20
There is also traditional skepticism among investors about =
lesser-known=20
accounting firms, and concern by Wall Street underwriters about =
whether=20
smaller accounting firms have enough insurance in the event of a =
lawsuit=20
over an offering.</P>
<P class=3Dtimes><I>-- Cassell Bryan-Low contributed to this =
article</I></P>
<P class=3Dtimes><B>Write to</B> Scot J. Paltrow at <A =
class=3Dtimes=20
=
href=3D"mailto:scot.paltrow@wsj.com">scot.paltrow@wsj.com</A><SUP>2</SUP>=
</P><!-- article end -->
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<TD=20
style=3D"FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 11px; FONT-FAMILY: =
Arial, Helv, Helvetica"=20
width=3D407>URL for this article:<BR><A=20
style=3D"FONT-WEIGHT: normal; FONT-SIZE: 11px; FONT-FAMILY: =
Arial, Helv, Helvetica"=20
=
href=3D"http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1025472464207545120.djm,00.htm=
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<BR><BR></TD></TR>
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<TD=20
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Arial, Helv, Helvetica"=20
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=
href=3D"http://online.wsj.com/page/0,,2_0801,00.html">http://online.wsj.c=
om/page/0,,2_0801,00.html</A>=20
<BR>(2) <A class=3DmoduleLink=20
=
href=3D"mailto:scot.paltrow@wsj.com">mailto:scot.paltrow@wsj.com</A>=20
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P class=3Darticle><I>Updated July 1, =
2002</I></P><BR><BR></SPAN><!-- ARTICLE-TYPE:Questioning the =
Books--><BR><BR></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- =
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