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Andersen CEO Berardino resigns

Joseph Berardino, the chief executive of Andersen, resigned on Tuesday, in a move designed to help the embattled accountant survive as it looks to settle criminal charges over its handling of Enron Corp's audit.

Berardino, CEO for only 14 months, will stay in office until a successor is found.

"In the wake of an unprecedented criminal indictment of the US firm, I have concluded that my continuing as worldwide CEO could become an impediment to the efforts of Mr Volcker and many others to save the US firm," Berardino, 52, told Andersen colleagues in an e-mail message on Tuesday.

His resignation comes as Paul Volcker, called in by Andersen last month, spearheads Andersen's attempts to settle criminal charges brought by the US Justice Department, which claims Andersen obstructed justice by destroying Enron-related documents after US securities regulators announced an investigation into the firm's handling of Enron's books.

Volcker says a deal needs to be done this week if the firm is to survive, as its clients ebb away.

"He feels his resignation as chief executive will help clear the air and facilitate the recovery of Arthur Andersen under fresh management," Volcker said in a statement issued moments after Berardino announced his resignation.

Last week Volcker recommended a new seven-person board -- which did not include Berardino -- take over the running of the firm.

But Berardino's resignation may be too little too late, industry experts said.

"This doesn't satisfy the Department of Justice," Art Bowman, editor of industry publication Bowman's Accounting Report, told Reuters. "The firm has not indicated that it has changed its behavior that got it into this fix in the first place." Bowman said the Justice Department was set on seeing Andersen go out of business.

Berardino, a 30 year veteran of Andersen, was elected CEO of Andersen in January 2001. Before that he was in charge of the US audit practice, which suffered some embarrassing legal settlements over botched audits under his watch.

Berardino said his resignation turned on the destruction of Enron documents.

"The fact is that the improper shredding of documents took place on my watch -- and I believe it is now in the best interests of the firm for me to step down from the CEO position," he said in a statement circulated by Andersen.

"I felt I had to take this step today to put an exclamation point behind the voices of our people," Berardino told CNN's Lou Dobbs on his Moneyline show late on Thursday. "We are a serious firm that deserves to continue here in the United States."

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