Andersen Loses Its Last S&P; 500 Client
From Bloomberg News
Arthur Andersen lost its last audit client in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index as Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. dropped the disintegrating accounting firm and hired Ernst & Young.
Andersen had been Freeport’s auditor since 1988, said New Orleans-based Freeport, owner of the world’s largest gold mine.
Andersen, Enron Corp.’s auditor for 16 years, was convicted last month of obstructing a U.S. investigation of Enron’s collapse. It will stop auditing public companies by Aug. 31. Chicago-based Andersen, which has agreed to sell most of its operations, had 84 clients in the S&P; 500 at the start of this year.
