The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Tuesday announced it had determined that Enron common stock and its related securities were “no longer suitable for trading,” and should be suspended immediately. Just hours later Enron came back with a new ticker symbol, announcing it henceforth would trade on the over-the-counter market as ENRNQ. Quotation service will be provided by the National Quotation Bureau, LLC “Pink Sheets.”

Enron’s stock has not traded on the NYSE since last Friday, the day Enron announced that UBS AG had won the bid to acquire its wholesale trading unit (see related story this issue).

The NYSE securities to be delisted include the 7% Exchangeable Notes due July 31, 2002 and the $10.50 Cumulative Second Preferred Convertible Stock. Also to be delisted are the derivative securities of Enron Capital Trust I, Enron Capital Trust II, Enron Capital Resources LP and Enron Capital LLC.

The Enron announcement said the following securities also will trade on the over-the-counter market: Enron Capital LLC 8% Cumulative Guaranteed Monthly Income Preferred Shares (ECTPQ), Enron Capital Resources LP 9% Cumulative Series A (ECSPQ), Enron Capital Trust I 8.30% Trust Originated Preferred Securities (EONNQ), Enron Capital Trust II 8.125% Trust Originated Preferred Securities (ENRPQ), Enron Capital LLC (ERNCF), and Enron Corp. 7% Exchangeable Notes for common stock due July 31, 2002 (EONPQ).

Under NYSE regulations, Enron will have the right to a review of the determination by a committee of the board of directors of the Exchange. An application to the Securities and Exchange Commission to delist Enron will be made when the applicable procedures have been completed, including any appeal by Enron of the NYSE decision.

“The Exchange, as previously announced on Dec. 3, 2001 and Jan. 11, 2002, has continued to monitor events at the company,” it said in a written statement. “The Exchange notes that today’s action is being taken due to the expected protracted nature of the company’s bankruptcy process and the uncertainty at this time as to the timing and outcome of this process as well as the ultimate effect on the company’s common stockholders.”

The NYSE said “it may make an appraisal of, and determine on an individual basis, the suitability for continued listing of an issue in light of all pertinent facts whenever it deems such action appropriate, and that the Exchange may, at any time, suspend a security if it believes that continued dealings in the security on the NYSE are not advisable.”

It also said that “in light of all the circumstances presented by the company and its bankruptcy, including the fact that the company has traded at a price level deemed abnormally low and has recently fallen below the NYSE’s continued listing criteria related to: average closing price of a security less than $1 over a consecutive 30-trading day period, the Exchange has determined that the company’s securities are no longer suitable for trading on the NYSE.”

In other developments, Enron’s accountant Arthur Andersen LLP, itself involved in a growing controversy, on Tuesday fired the lead auditor of the Enron account and placed four other auditors — all based in Houston — on leave as part of its inquiry into the destruction of related auditing documents. Andersen said it would replace the management in the Houston office, noting that the five Andersen partners there “have been relieved of their management responsibilities.” It also noted it will fire any other employees who have participated in the “improper destruction of documents.”

Andersen’s leading auditing partner, David B. Duncan, was fired, and four other partners — D. Stephen Goddard Jr., Michael M. Lowther, Gary B. Goolsby and Michael C. Odom — were placed on administrative leave.

“This was a painful decision but it was absolutely the right thing to do,” said Andersen CEO Joseph Berardino. “We are prepared to take all appropriate steps necessary to maintain confidence in the integrity of our firm.”

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