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The article reports on the preliminary findings of a study on the performance of certified public accountants (CPA) in the U.S. that was commissioned by public accounting firm Arthur Andersen & Co. and carried out by Opinion Research Corp. Investors and other users of corporate financial statements gave a high rating for the integrity of the CPAs. It notes that majority of the respondents believe that CPAs need to ensure the adequacy of the flow of reliable and understandable information.

Examines the challenges in successfully punishing corporate corruption in the U.S., in light of the conviction of Arthur Andersen LLP for obstruction of justice; Difficulty for prosecutors in educating jurors about sophisticated financial concepts, finding an inside whistle-blower who can recount key conversations, and proving an executive willfully broke the law; Issue of executives hiring top lawyers, who can create reasonable doubt through blaming other employees; Outlook. INSET: The Legal Road Ahead.

Discusses the efforts of the U.S. Justice Department to address the obstruction case against Arthur Andersen accounting firm and Enron Corporation. Operations of Andersen after the fraudulent accounting of Enron's finances; Move of the Department to pursue the case on Andersen employees; Details on the document destruction in the Andersen case.

Reports on the government investigation involving Enron and Arthur Andersen in the United States as of January 2002. Reason for the dismissal of David B. Duncan from Andersen; Emphasis of the case on retrieving shredded data; Significance of magnetic storage systems.

Focuses on a lawsuit filed by the Baptist Foundation of Arizona against accounting company Arthur Andersen for its involvement in covering up a fraudulent scheme. Overview of the accusations; Background on the foundation; Details on other charges against the company.

This article report developments for accounting in the U.S. The Cost Accounting Standards Board, the federal agency which is writing accounting standards for use in government defense contracts, has published a list of 18 topics on which staff members are working for the possible development of cost accounting standards. The Securities and Exchange Commission has stated anew its desire for resolutions of the financial reporting problems associated with lease accounting. Professor Charles T. Zlatkovich, of The University of Texas, has been named the first recipient of the C. Aubrey Smith Professorship in the university's accounting department. Arthur Andersen and Co. has signed an agreement with a Soviet Union government agency to join the agency in an exchange of technical accounting knowledge.

The article examines the method used by American government in keeping its financial records in order to determine the government's deficit in 1984 in the U.S. Accountants at Arthur Andersen & Co. has argued that if the government were using the same procedure as what they require to private companies, the government's deficit should have been higher than the reported deficit.

The article reports that in a testimony before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, April 17, representatives of two major accounting firms offered a strong defense of the sufficiency of their audit procedures in respective engagements for American Savings and Loan Association of Miami and Home State Savings Bank of Cincinnati. Both thrifts suffered major financial losses because of their investment relationships with the failed ESM Government Securities Inc., of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The differences between the roles of auditors, managers, regulators and investors were also distinguished by Lee B. Brown, a partner of Arthur Andersen & Co., who denied allegations made in an April 2 subcommittee hearing that Arthur Andersen failed to question an estimated $150 million in unsecured loans its client, Home State Savings, made to ESM. Also presenting testimony was DH&S's Ronald A. Jones, partner in charge of the American Savings audit engagement. Concerning the market for repos and reverse repos, Jones drew on his 20 years of experience as an auditor, a dozen of which have been spent in audits of thrift institutions, to cite the complexities of the agreements.

The article reports that in testimony before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, April 17, representatives of two major accounting firms offered a strong defense of the sufficiency of their audit procedures in respective engagements for American Savings and Loan Association of Miami and Home State Savings Bank of Cincinnati. Both thrifts suffered major financial losses because of their investment relationships with the failed ESM Government Securities Inc., of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The differences between the roles of auditors, managers, regulators and investors were also distinguished by Lee B. Brown, a partner of Arthur Andersen & Co., who denied allegations made in an April 2 subcommittee hearing that Arthur Andersen failed to question an estimated $150 million in unsecured loans its client, Home State Savings, made to ESM. Drawing a distinction between auditor responsibilities and those of management, Brown said that an auditor does not manage his client's business or participate in investment decision making.

The article reports that in a testimony before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, April 17, representatives of two major accounting firms offered a strong defense of the sufficiency of their audit procedures in respective engagements for American Savings and Loan Association of Miami and Home State Savings Bank of Cincinnati. Both thrifts suffered major financial losses because of their investment relationships with the failed ESM Government Securities Inc., of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The differences between the roles of auditors, managers, regulators and investors were also distinguished by Lee B. Brown, a partner of Arthur Andersen & Co., who denied allegations made in an April 2 subcommittee hearing that Arthur Andersen failed to question an estimated $150 million in unsecured loans its client, Home State Savings, made to ESM. Brown noted that in the April 3 testimony by Ohio Governor Richard F. Celeste before the House Commerce, Consumer, and Monetary Affairs Subcommittee, Celeste acknowledged that the state regulators knew of Home State's high concentration of business with ESM.

The article reports that in a testimony before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, April 17, representatives of two major accounting firms offered a strong defense of the sufficiency of their audit procedures in respective engagements for American Savings and Loan Association of Miami and Home State Savings Bank of Cincinnati. Both thrifts suffered major financial losses because of their investment relationships with the failed ESM Government Securities Inc., of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The differences between the roles of auditors, managers, regulators and investors were also distinguished by Lee B. Brown, a partner of Arthur Andersen & Co., who denied allegations made in an April 2 subcommittee hearing that Arthur Andersen failed to question an estimated $150 million in unsecured loans its client, Home State Savings, made to ESM. In regard to future improvements in the auditing of government securities transactions, Brown told the subcommittee of the special task force set up by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants auditing standards board to study the adequacy of existing guidance dealing with audits of repo and reverse repo security transactions.