WASHINGTON, Jan. 28 (UPI) -- News about recently bankrupt Enron Corp's elaborate accounting practices, and about possible malfeasance on the part of the company's accounting firm Arthur Andersen, LLP, has spurred questions among average Americans about official regulations covering corporate accounting.
But U.S. citizens are undecided on what should be done about corporate accounting, according to a new survey by the Washington, D.C., office of pollster Ipsos-Reid.
Enron Corp -- the world's largest energy trading firm -- filed for bankruptcy on Dec. 2. It was the largest such filing in U.S. history, putting thousands of its own employees out of work and wiping out the retirement savings of both employees and many outside investors. Enron's collapse came amid substantial questions about the company's accounting methods, and about the role of accountant Arthur Andersen.
According to the Ipsos-Reid poll, most Americans think that self policing by auditors -- such as Arthur Andersen and other accounting firms -- doesn't work. But those polled were also split on whether there should be a new federal agency to regulate auditors.
Only one in four Americans (23 percent) have confidence that the self-policing procedures already in place actually work to ensure that accounting practices follow certain ethical and legal standards. More than two in three Americans (69 percent) believe that these policies do not work.
Opinion among those who say self-policing does not work is evenly split between the 35 percent who say a federal agency should be set up to regulate auditors, and the 34 percent who disagree and say no federal agency should be formed.
At this stage, many Americans still expressed little interest in the Enron story, with 40 percent reporting they had little or no interest.
However, a still large percentage (32 percent), said they had a great deal or quite a bit of interest in the story of Enron's collapse.
According to Ipsos-Reid, among the groups most likely to express an interest in the ongoing story of Enron's collapse were: Those with a college degree (48 percent), those in households earning more than $50,000 (44 percent), and those at least 50 years old (38 percent.)
The study was conducted by Ipsos-Reid U.S. Public Affairs, the Washington, D.C.-based division of Ipsos-Reid, a large polling and market research organization. Results were based on a national survey of 1,000 adults as a representative sample, with the poll conducted between Jan. 25-Jan. 27.
