Andersen chooses new chief

After a marathon three-day board meeting, the partners of Andersen Worldwide have chosen Aldo Cardoso as the accountancy firm's new acting chief executive.

Mr Cardoso, who is already chairman of the 18-member board, takes over from Joseph Berardino, who stepped down last month to take responsibility for the firm's mistakes.

Cardoso: inheritor of a poisoned chalice?

Mr Berardino had been in the post since January 2001.

"This new role is a natural extension of my responsibilities as chairman of the (board)," Mr Cardoso said in a statement.

"I will continue to work with our partners around the world to help them achieve as quickly as possible the best outcome for their people and their clients."

The embattled firm is struggling in the aftermath of the scandal over Enron, one of its clients.

Andersen's failure to alert shareholders to the energy company's off-the-books financial misadventures has caused clients to flee and earned it a criminal indictment in the US which could yet wipe out the US operation altogether.

Hard work

That means the new boss has a big task on his hands, trying to keep Andersen operations across the rest of the world afloat.

Aldo Cardoso

Aged 46

Joined Andersen in 1979; made partner in 1989

Country managing partner, France

Regional managing partner, France & Benelux

Education: Ecole Superieure de Commerce, Paris; Masters in Law from the Sorbonne

The company had hoped that most of its individual member firms would choose to side with KPMG.

But partners at many of them have already opted for another of the big four firms, and Andersen has admitted that the worldwide merger is out of the question.

"In view of the decisions by certain individual firms to pursue different directions, it is clear that a deal embracing all of the non-US firms is not achievable," Andersen Worldwide said in a statement.

Out of the 83 firms outside the US, six have already gone elsewhere.

Andersen Spain is merging with Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, while the Russian, Australian and New Zealand affiliates are negotiating with Ernst & Young.

The Hong Kong and China offices expect to reach a deal with PricewaterhouseCoopers within the next three months.

On the brink

If that were not enough, Mr Cardoso also faces the formidable challenge of trying to help Andersen's US arm avoid extinction.

The firm faces obstruction of justice charges in the US over the shredding of Enron-related documents by its Houston office after an investigation into the latter's collapse had begun.

The case goes to court in Houston on 6 May.