Leaders of the American Institute of CPAs have been traveling the country recently to inform constituents on current audit reform initiatives and to outline the position of the AICPA on behalf of the membership.After similar presentations in Los Angeles and Dallas last week, AICPA President Barry Melancon addressed an audience of professionals and students in Arkansas on how the Enron scandal has challenged the accounting profession."For virtually every [certified public accountant] in this room, it is probably the most significant event in your career," said Mr.

A survey of U.S. insurance executives conducted by Ernst & Young found that more than two-thirds (67%) of companies have someone tracking developments of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). In addition, almost half (44%) have someone within their organization participating on committees related to International Accounting Standards (IAS), and almost a third (30%) have developed an internal task force on IAS.

Paul A. Volcker, former chairman of the Federal Reserve Board and head of Andersen's oversight board, issued a statement on March 22, 2002, outlining a plan for a "new Andersen." Many are hoping this plan will reopen the talks between the firm and the Department of Justice (DOJ). The talks broke off after Andersen refused to plead guilty to charges of obstructing justice.Mr. Volcker's planUnder the terms of the plan, which Mr.

In testimony to the House Financial Services Committee on March 20, 2002, Phil Livingston, president and chief executive officer of Financial Executives International (FEI), said FEI lends its support to H.R. 3763, the Corporate and Auditing Accountability, Responsibility and Transparency Act of 2002 (CARTA). Mr.

Donald J. Kirk, former vice chairman of the Public Oversight Board (POB) and former chairman of the Financial Accounting Standards Board, has agreed to oversee the completion of the independence reviews of the Big Five accounting firms after the POB closes its doors on March 31, 2002.

At Congressional hearings on March 19, 2002, Charles A. Bowsher, the chairman of the accounting profession's Public Oversight Board (POB), and Aulana Peters, a POB member and former Commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), asked Congress to create an Independent Institute of Accountancy (IIA). Chairman Bowsher is a former U.S. comptroller general and head of Congress' General Accounting Office.

Big Five firm Andersen is facing almost daily defections of major clients as publicly held companies jump ship in search of another auditor. The latest defections include pharmaceutical group Wyeth, consumer product-maker Sara Lee Corp., drug and medical-product giant Abbott Laboratories, and recreational products manufacturer Brunswick Corp.Sara Lee paid Andersen nearly $38 million in fees last year, while the other three companies combined paid approximately $30 million in audit and consultancy fees.

Following the Justice Department's indictment against Arthur Andersen last Thursday, the United States General Services Administration suspended Andersen from pursuing any new federal government work during the period that the indictment is in place.According to the GSA, indictments for criminal offenses, such as the one handed down to the Andersen accounting firm on Thursday, offers "adequate evidence of misconduct to support suspe

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