PRESERVING VALUES

Multi-disciplinary practices will surely increase the numbers of conflicts of interest in which professional judgements and values risk being suborned to financial imperatives.

It is no surprise that in the Enron debacle the finger is already being pointed at Arthur Andersen, not just for shredding documents, but because of the conflicts it laboured under in its dual role of consultants to, and auditors of, Enron.

It was a multi-million dollar account and the pressures not to challenge management must have been huge.Far from welcoming multi-disciplinary practices, we should be advocating that auditors should only be allowed to audit.

They should not be allowed to do consultancy or tax advice.

Only then can investors be certain that auditors' certificates are given by truly independent firms whose judgement is not potentially compromised by other financial interests.

We should be seeking to maintain our professional values of independence and integrity rather than rushing head long into multi-disciplinary practices where those values will inevitably become submerged by the demands for ever greater profits.Stephen Lloyd, Bates Wells & Braithwaite, London