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CNN Live Sunday

Interview With William Yeack

Aired June 15, 2003 - 18:44   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN ANCHOR: It has been one year to the day since a jury convicted the accounting firm Arthur Andersen of obstruction of justice in the Enron scandal. The verdict was hailed as a major victory in the campaign against corporate crime.
But a new book on the case comes to a different conclusion. Former Andersen CPA William Yeack is one of four co-authors of "Inside Arthur Andersen: Shifting Values, Unintended Consequences." He joins us from Chicago.

Mr. Yeack, I'd like to move on to Arthur Andersen in a moment but first I want to get to a point that was made in Chris Huntington's piece and that is I can't believe that neither the head of WorldCom or Enron has been charged with anything, why not?

WILLIAM YEACK, CO-AUTHOR, "INSIDE ARTHUR ANDERSEN": It's an amazing story right now. There's a lot of public policy issues. There's a lot of concerns on who has been charged and why haven't certain people been charged?

KOPPEL: And, what's the answer?

YEACK: Well, the answer is pretty complicated as we go through in the book. We talk about some of the shifting values that have occurred from private greed to public policy and who's really guilty of some of these travesties against justice.

KOPPEL: And so, does that mean that there is a chance that the CEOs and the heads of both of those companies will escape unscathed?

YEACK: There's always that chance and there's always the chance that the public will rise up and actually decide it's about time that we got this accounting profession under control.

KOPPEL: OK, let's get to your book. As we said, it has been a year to the day since the Arthur Andersen verdict came back and that was a guilty verdict. What have we learned since then?

YEACK: Well, certainly Sarbanes-Oxley has come out and that's put some good emergency measures in place, but short of 85,000 good people form Arthur Andersen losing their jobs, not a lot has changed in the last year.

KOPPEL: And the reason is?

YEACK: Well, we believe there's a fundamental shift required for understanding the public policy of protecting John Doe's 401K. When he looks at his 401K now and sees 50 percent of the value gone, he probably gets sick and, in fact, John Doe is probably the lucky one. Many people have lost everything.

KOPPEL: The source of the beginning of Arthur Andersen's downfall, as you lay out in your book, actually began back in the 1970s. Explain.

YEACK: Yes, Andersen was founded by Arthur Andersen in 1918 but really in the '20s and '30s he believed it was his goal to protect the public interest and that's what audit was all about.

And, in the '70s those values started shifting from the core values that made the firm so great and really became apparent in the '90s how the private interest of the audit firms outweighed the public good.

KOPPEL: The book is called "Inside Arthur Andersen: Shifting Values, Unintended Consequences." William Yeack, I understand you're the father of three, and we appreciate very much your family allowing us to share you for this evening. Thanks so much.

YEACK: Thanks, Andrea.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired June 15, 2003 - 18:44   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN ANCHOR: It has been one year to the day since a jury convicted the accounting firm Arthur Andersen of obstruction of justice in the Enron scandal. The verdict was hailed as a major victory in the campaign against corporate crime.
But a new book on the case comes to a different conclusion. Former Andersen CPA William Yeack is one of four co-authors of "Inside Arthur Andersen: Shifting Values, Unintended Consequences." He joins us from Chicago.

Mr. Yeack, I'd like to move on to Arthur Andersen in a moment but first I want to get to a point that was made in Chris Huntington's piece and that is I can't believe that neither the head of WorldCom or Enron has been charged with anything, why not?

WILLIAM YEACK, CO-AUTHOR, "INSIDE ARTHUR ANDERSEN": It's an amazing story right now. There's a lot of public policy issues. There's a lot of concerns on who has been charged and why haven't certain people been charged?

KOPPEL: And, what's the answer?

YEACK: Well, the answer is pretty complicated as we go through in the book. We talk about some of the shifting values that have occurred from private greed to public policy and who's really guilty of some of these travesties against justice.

KOPPEL: And so, does that mean that there is a chance that the CEOs and the heads of both of those companies will escape unscathed?

YEACK: There's always that chance and there's always the chance that the public will rise up and actually decide it's about time that we got this accounting profession under control.

KOPPEL: OK, let's get to your book. As we said, it has been a year to the day since the Arthur Andersen verdict came back and that was a guilty verdict. What have we learned since then?

YEACK: Well, certainly Sarbanes-Oxley has come out and that's put some good emergency measures in place, but short of 85,000 good people form Arthur Andersen losing their jobs, not a lot has changed in the last year.

KOPPEL: And the reason is?

YEACK: Well, we believe there's a fundamental shift required for understanding the public policy of protecting John Doe's 401K. When he looks at his 401K now and sees 50 percent of the value gone, he probably gets sick and, in fact, John Doe is probably the lucky one. Many people have lost everything.

KOPPEL: The source of the beginning of Arthur Andersen's downfall, as you lay out in your book, actually began back in the 1970s. Explain.

YEACK: Yes, Andersen was founded by Arthur Andersen in 1918 but really in the '20s and '30s he believed it was his goal to protect the public interest and that's what audit was all about.

And, in the '70s those values started shifting from the core values that made the firm so great and really became apparent in the '90s how the private interest of the audit firms outweighed the public good.

KOPPEL: The book is called "Inside Arthur Andersen: Shifting Values, Unintended Consequences." William Yeack, I understand you're the father of three, and we appreciate very much your family allowing us to share you for this evening. Thanks so much.

YEACK: Thanks, Andrea.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com