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Andersen near settlement deal with SEC, US govt: NYT

Accounting firm Andersen is close to a settlement with the US government for both criminal and civil charges related to its audit of collapsed energy trader Enron Corp, the New York Times reported in its online edition on Thursday.

Andersen has agreed to a government condition that it admit it committed a crime by destroying Enron-related documents, the NYT reported. In return the government will postpone any prosecution for several years.

An understanding about the broad terms of a potential settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which would include a wider array of potential charges, has also been reached, but no final deal will be negotiated until the criminal case is resolved, the paper reported.

The discussions with federal prosecutors are in an advanced stage but an agreement could still fall apart as a number of the terms haven't been negotiated yet, including requirements to prevent future wrongdoing, it said.

A draft agreement is expected to be completed by the government on Thursday.

The settlement of the criminal charges will involve little if any money, the paper reported.

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