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Strategies & Market Trends : Zeev's Turnips - No Politics -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LiPolymer who wrote (36175)	3/2/2002 3:17:29 PM
From: Ibexx	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 99280

Friday March 1, 4:20 pm Eastern Time Merck Drops Andersen as Auditor By Greg Cresci NEW YORK (Reuters) - Pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. (NYSE:MRK - news) on Friday said it dumped Andersen as its auditor after a 30-year association, in a fresh blow to the embattled Big Five accounting firm. ADVERTISEMENT ``It's bad news,'' said Izthak Sharav, an accounting professor at Columbia University. ``It's sort of devastating for Andersen because Merck is not the only one, several companies have already defected. And there will probably be additional defections.'' Merck is the first blue-chip company to replace Andersen in the wake of its role in the Enron Corp. (NYSE:ENE - news) scandal. Andersen audited the collapsed energy trader's books and now faces lawsuits from angry investors as it fights for survival. Merck said its board dropped Andersen, which already has lost clients such as SunTrust Banks Inc. (NYSE:STI - news), after ''careful consideration.'' It said it hired No. 1 accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers as its outside auditor for this year, subject to shareholder approval. ``This appointment concludes a rigorous selection process that was part of Merck's annual formal review of auditing services,'' Merck said in a statement. ``Arthur Andersen has provided excellent auditing services to Merck since 1971 and Merck has valued its relationship with the firm.'' The announcement comes two days after Paul Volcker, the former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman, named former Merck Chairman and Chief Executive P. Roy Vagelos to a special board charged with overhauling Andersen's procedures. Volcker was named chairman of that panel early last month. In 2000, Merck paid Andersen $4.2 million in auditing fees, and $2.1 million for other services, according to Merck's most recent proxy filing. ``We appreciate Merck's kind words about the quality of our work and we hope to continue to serve the company in other ways in the future,'' said Andersen spokesman Patrick Dorton. A spokesman for New Jersey-based Merck said no decision has been made about whether the drugmaker will keep using Andersen for consulting or other work. A spokesman for PricewaterhouseCoopers said his firm was ``very pleased'' to become Merck's new auditor. Merck, a component of the vaunted Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI - news), is by far the highest-profile company to abandon Andersen. The Chicago-based accounting firm recently acknowledged it was losing clients due to fallout from Enron. Smaller companies that have severed relationships with Andersen include power and gas utility MDU Resources Group Inc. (NYSE:MDU - news) and educational company Corinthian Colleges Inc. (NasdaqNM:COCO - news). The trend could spell Andersen's demise, analysts have said. ``There is a big question mark over the future of Arthur Andersen,'' Sharav said. ``Normally there is a certain turnover which is to be expected, but here, it might end up being a one-way street with companies leaving but not being replaced by others.'' Ibexx

To: LiPolymer who wrote (36175)	3/2/2002 7:38:14 PM
From: LTK007	Respond to of 99280

OT<Fortunately my brother-in-law still lives on the Cape, but that place is overrun with hellish crowds for the best part of the season> yes the the Cape has become , how do we say, one of those places where that the vacation world marches through come the summer season:) I am just glad i have lived 15miles by water south of Arcadia National Park, which has become a traffic jam from Memorial Day to Labor Day. To any thinking of going to Arcadia National Park,go after labor day,it's a different place then,imo.