Representatives from Arthur Andersen will hold an a town meeting in the Dolan School of Business today to address student and faculty concerns regarding the accounting firm’s role in the Enron bankruptcy.
The meeting, sparked by articles and op-ed pieces that appeared in The Mirror will be held in room 110 A from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m according to an e-mail received by The Mirror from Dawn Massey of the school of business.
Andersen, one of the largest accounting firms in the country, is headed by Joseph Berardino, a Fairfield alum who graduated in 1972. Berardino is currently a member of the university’s Board of Trustees.
The Mirror has come under fire in the past week for a “Frankly Speaking” (Jan 24) article and an editorial entitled “The Silence of the Scam” (Jan 31) that questioned the ethical actions of Berardino’s company and the university’s silence on the matter.
This past Tuesday, Berardino testified on Capitol Hill before a House Financial Services subcommittee that Andersen is taking “immediate steps” to improve public confidence, including the creation of a new internal office of ethics and compliance.
After the collapse of Enron, the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history, it came to light that Arthur Andersen, the firm responsible for auditing and reviewing Enron’s finances had not been given critical documents by the energy giant. However, adding to the confusion over Andersen’s role in the bankruptcy was the revelation that the firm had destroyed numerous documents concerning Enron’s audits.
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