Arthur

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Arthur Gonzalez approved a third Enron Corp. retention plan Tuesday that will pay up to $140 million for bonuses to keep employees from quitting as it reorganizes. However, he denied a request to shield from possible litigation by creditors the $105 million from two previous retention bonus packages that were paid to 237 Enron employees.

Seeking to pull itself out of the Enron quagmire, Arthur Andersen reportedly is attempting to negotiate a settlement with Enron shareholders, unsecured creditors and employees in Enron’s 401(k) retirement plan, according to a story this morning in the Wall Street Journal.

Enron Corp.’s former outside accountant Arthur Andersen and the accounting firm’s law firm are apparently close to completing an internal review into when and how its employees destroyed documents relating to the bankrupt company’s business practices. Details of the report by Davis Polk & Wardwell could be released this week, but Andersen also indicated that its investigation is ongoing.

EOTT Energy Partners LP and Northern Border Pipeline said Arthur Andersen LLP no longer wants to be their auditor. The two companies said Andersen indicated its resignation was due to “concerns about its ability, under professional standards regarding independence, to continue to act as auditor…in light of recent events involving Enron Corp.”

Fired Arthur Andersen auditor David Duncan, who managed the Enron Corp. account in Houston, will be “the man of the hour” at the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on oversight and investigations’ hearing Thursday on the accounting firm’s shredding of Enron-related records, said Subcommittee Chairman James Greenwood (R-PA).

SEC Chairman Harvey L. Pitt said Thursday the failure of Enron and its auditor Arthur Andersen clearly exposes the defects in the country’s “vaunted system of disclosure, financial reporting, corporate governance and accounting practices,” and the need to develop an entirely new method of financial oversight. Pitt outlined a Securities and Exchange Commission plan to form a new public entity that will be empowered to perform investigations, bring disciplinary proceedings, publicize results and restrict individuals and firms from auditing public companies.

The next stop for some top Enron Corp. executives and the company’s auditor, Arthur Andersen LP, should be jail, said Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), after listening last Tuesday to Enron employees, retirees and individual investors tell horror stories of fortunes lost.

The next stop for some top Enron Corp. executives and the company’s auditor, Arthur Andersen LLP, should be jail, said Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), after listening Tuesday to Enron employees, retirees and individual investors tell horror stories of fortunes lost.

The board of directors of the Ohio Electric Utility Institute (OEUI) elected Floyd W. Nickerson, AEP Ohio president, as its chairman. In addition, Arthur G. Meyer, vice president of legal and corporate affairs at Dayton Power and Light, was elected vice chairman of OEUI. As chairman, Nickerson will preside over OEUI’s board, which is responsible for setting policy for the non-profit state trade association. OEUI represents Ohio’s five investor-owned electric companies, which provide electricity to 4.5 million customers, nearly 90% of the state’s electric users. “With Ohio moving to electric restructuring starting this year, OEUI will continue to work closely with state officials to accomplish a smooth transition to competition in Ohio’s electric industry,” said Nickerson.