As Andersen prepares to fight the Justice Department in court, legislators are busy trying to push through a bill that calls for stringent measures in overhauling the accounting industry.
The bill introduced by Sens. Christoper Dodd, D-Conn., and Jon Corzine, D-N.J., would ban auditors from offering any kind of consulting services to their audit clients - including tax-related services. Tax work could only be performed following approval of the client's internal audit committee.
The bill is the strictest one yet aimed squarely at reforming the profession, and joins more than 30 other bills related to financial reporting and other matters in connection with the failure of energy trader Enron.
- Tracey Miller-Segarra
