No fear at GT over Andersen
Grant Thornton in the US has said it is confident that the firm is safe from any damages that may be faced by the more than 30 ex-Andersen partners it has taken on.
A US spokesman told Accountancy Age: ‘We do not believe that there is any successor liability exposure to Grant Thornton.’
The news comes as concerns mount over the defunct firm’s exposure to the accounting scandals in the US, which could cost former Andersen partners millions of dollars in compensation.
To date, Grant Thornton has taken on 44 former Andersen partners – six in the UK and 38 in the US – and 330 former employees.
It has beaten rival BDO which had said it was actively seeking to recruit former Andersen partners and employees. Jeremy Newman, managing partner at BDO Stoy Haward, expressed doubts about taking on former Andersen partners.
He said: ‘It is difficult to say whether [people who take on Andersen partners] are protected. There is no legal precedent. Things are not clear.’