Volcker to the Rescue?

You’ve got to hand it to Paul Volcker. He cuts to the chase.On Friday, the man who was brought in to revise Arthur Andersen’s audit practices did a little revising of his own. Rather than advise Andersen top management on how to reform the company, Volcker offered to kick those managers out—and t...

By Stephen Taub • March 25, 2002

Selling Andersen, Bit By Bit

It’s starting to look like a tag sale.Executives and employees at seemingly every unit at Arthur Andersen are trying desperately to save their jobs. To do that, they are forging deals with regional units of their Big Five counterparts.Here’s the score so far: on Thursday, Andersen’s affiliates in...

By Stephen Taub • March 22, 2002

Andersen Defiant

It may not be up there with Bruno Haupman, but the upcoming trial of Arthur Andersen looks like it’s going to be high drama nonetheless.On Wednesday, lawyers for the besieged Big Five firm entered a not guilty plea to a federal obstruction of justice charge. That charge stems from Andersen’s alle...

By Stephen Taub • March 21, 2002

Keep on Truckin’: DOJ Says Andersen Destroyed Tons of Evidence

Call it March Madness. It looks like the Big Five may soon become the Final Four.A federal grand jury has indicted accounting firm Andersen for obstruction of justice for shredding sensitive documents related to the bankruptcy of energy trader Enron Corp.Ironically, neither Enron nor any of its e...

By Stephen Taub • March 15, 2002

No Terror Coverage, No Dice

While economists and pundits debate whether the economy is truly coming out of recession, one thing is certain: You’d be hard pressed to find a better time for investing in new capital projects. Inventories are finally down to where demand is starting to outstrip supply. Interest rates are lower ...

By David Katz • March 13, 2002

Don’t Shred on Me: Justice Department to Charge Andersen

The Justice Department may indict Andersen as early as today for its role in shredding key documents related to the Enron Corp. investigation, according to several published reports.U.S. prosecutors are expected to bring obstruction of justice charges against Andersen to a grand jury in Texas, ac...

By Stephen Taub • March 8, 2002

Disclosure Rules

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s 2001 end-of-year meeting gave investors an unexpected bonus– and corporate finance departments additional work. The SEC ruled that starting in April, companies must include tables in their 10-K reports disclosing information about all employee stock option...

By Tim Reason • March 1, 2002

Report: AA Offering Enron Plaintiffs $750 Million

Management at Arthur Andersen is determined to put the Enron debacle behind it and move on. That is, if it can.The embattled auditor is said to have offered $750 million to cover civil lawsuits and is trying to convince the Justice Department not to indict the firm, according to Thursday’s Washin...

By Stephen Taub • Feb. 28, 2002

Grilling Skilling, Take Two

Former Enron president Jeffrey Skilling took off the kid gloves during his more than five hours of testimony before a Senate panel Tuesday.“The entire management and board of Enron have been labeled everything from hucksters to criminals,” said Skilling in his opening statement. “These untruths s...

By Stephen Taub • Feb. 27, 2002

Andersen: Staying Alive?

One by one, Andersen is seeking to settle claims in an attempt to survive the Enron disaster.The embattled auditor is currently negotiating with the bankrupt energy company to settle claims that Andersen mishandled Enron’s books, according to Saturday’s New York Times. The Times cited a voice-mai...

By Stephen Taub • Feb. 25, 2002

Houston, We Have a Logo

The market for Enron collectibles has dried up considerably since we first published John Goff’s article, shortly after the energy company’s collapse, but his insights into Enron’s corporate culture are worth a second look, and perhaps a few chuckles.Examine our Enron archiveReader A.W. of Pawtuc...

By John Goff • Feb. 24, 2002

Enron Insurance Fallout: D&O Premium Surge

Enron keeps rippling everybody else’s lake. The latest example: it seems the company’s collapse is sending premiums for officers and directors insurance through the roof.Companies whose market caps exceed $1 billion will see their premium bills jump more than 50 percent, according to published re...

By Stephen Taub • Feb. 22, 2002

Enron’s D&O Insurers Get Wanderlust

Maybe D&O means Duck Out.It seems The Royal Insurance Co. of America and St. Paul Mercury Insurance Co. are seeking to walk away from policies they wrote for Enron’s directors and officers. Their reasoning? The two say (in court filings) that Enron misled them.Of course, if the two indemnifie...

By Roy Harris • Feb. 21, 2002

Dumb and Dumber?

Kenneth Lay was duped. And Jeff Skilling knew what was coming.That was the thrust of the testimony provided by Sherron Watkins, the former Enron executive who appeared before the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee yesterday.Watkins repeatedly told the amiable — and at-times apologetic — lawma...

By Stephen Taub • Feb. 15, 2002

Instant Karma?

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday proposed changes to corporate disclosure rules that would speed up the reporting of financials and other important information. As CFO.com reported exclusively in early February, some of the changes involve form 8-K.“These steps will provide sig...

By Stephen Taub • Feb. 14, 2002

Hollings Disses Pitt

The Enron hearings resume today.The highlight, of course, will be former chairman Ken Lay taking the fifth, making him the sixth person to refuse to testify before Congress.While a number of legislators spent the weekend on the TV interview circuit promising to get to the bottom of the Enron scan...

By Stephen Taub • Feb. 12, 2002

Enron Insurance Fallout: D&O Premium Surge

Enron keeps rippling everybody else’s lake. The latest example: it seems the company’s collapse is sending premiums for officers and directors insurance through the roof.Companies whose market caps exceed $1 billion will see their premium bills jump more than 50 percent, according to published re...

By Stephen Taub • Feb. 12, 2002

Mr. Skilling Goes to Washington

It started off slow and fairly predictable.Four current and former Enron executives invoked the Fifth Amendment, refusing to testify to a House Subcommittee on Thursday. The non-talkers: former chief financial officer Andrew Fastow and ex-executive Michael Kopper, as well as two current Enron exe...

By Stephen Taub • Feb. 8, 2002

Enron on Parade: Skilling Set to Appear Later Today

As expected, former Enron CFO Andrew Fastow refused to testify before Congress this morning, citing his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.Michael Kopper, a former Enron executive, also invoked the Fifth Amendment, as did Richard Causey, Enron’s chief accounting officer. Richard Buy...

By Stephen Taub • Feb. 7, 2002

The Difficulties of Thinking Ahead

It’s June 1999. You are the CFO of a successful telecom-products supplier. Your vice president of strategy has just completed an exhaustive scenario-planning exercise. Of the several scenarios he presents, one says that in less than three years there will be an excess of telecom bandwidth that wi...

By Kris Frieswick • Feb. 5, 2002

Look Who’s Not Talking

They’re starting to circle the wagons.On Sunday, one day after an internal Enron investigation blamed the company’s executives, auditors, directors and lawyers for the energy trader’s stunning collapse, the key players in the drama went on the defensive.Former Enron chairman Kenneth Lay cancelled...

By Stephen Taub • Feb. 4, 2002

Terrorism Insurance: Pray As You Go

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority oversees New York City’s subway system, buses, railways, tunnels, and bridges, from the Triboro to the expansive Verrazano Narrows connecting Staten Island to Brooklyn. Had a terrorist destroyed the latter prior to September 11, the MTA would have had rec...

By Russ Banham • Feb. 4, 2002

The Risks Get Riskier

Bad news for CFOs and risk managers: The days of cheap insurance premiums and readily available coverage are over. Worse, this trend is coming at a time when the upward limits of risk suddenly seem immeasurable.To gauge the situation,we’ve taken the pulse of the insurance markets in five key area...

By CFO Editorial Staff • Jan. 30, 2002

Andersen Losing Customers–Will Delta Fly the Coop as Well?

Andersen’s association with Enron Corp. has already cost the accounting giant some business, chief executive officer Joseph Berardino said Monday.“Yes. We’ve lost business,” Berardino reportedly said at a press conference held at Andersen’s Chicago headquarters, when asked by reporters whether cl...

By Stephen Taub • Jan. 29, 2002

LLP or CYA? Andersen Employees Blame Duncan

One by one they sat at the formal table, staring up at their inquisitors and trying to explain what happened at Andersen. And one by one they answered the question of the day with the same two words: David Duncan.As a cadre of current and former Andersen executives appeared before the House Energ...

By Stephen Taub • Jan. 25, 2002