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Say goodbye, Mr. Berardino
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February 4, 2002: 3:45 p.m. ET
In the hunt for Enron accountability, Andersen's CEO should volunteer.
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NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - For the sake of the accounting business, it's time for someone to fall on his sword. That someone is Andersen's CEO, Joseph Berardino.
Not that he's personally to blame for the entire Enron mess. He is, in fact, the only top executive involved in these sordid events to show any courage at all.
Everyone else has been a coward. The latest: Enron's former chairman, Kenneth Lay, bowed out of congressional hearings into the Enron implosion, scheduled for Monday. His sudden insight over the weekend that politicians were looking to score PR points by raking him over the coals is disingenuous. He didn't want anything on record that could haunt him in a criminal proceeding.
David Duncan, the Andersen partner responsible for Enron work, set the precedent by taking the Fifth before Congress a couple of weeks ago.
Of course, don't forget former Enron numbers man Andrew Fastow and former CEO Jeffrey Skilling. They've been perfecting the art of laying low. Skilling is scheduled to talk to Congress later this week, but you wonder if he might not follow Lay's lead.
Berardino hasn't done the dodge. Instead, he's come out swinging, appearing on various TV shows and before Congress to defend his company's work as Enron's auditor.
Don't get me wrong: Berardino hasn't exactly taken full responsibility for Enron's collapse. He's relied on finger-pointing for the most part, blaming Enron's business practices and rogue executives in Andersen's Houston office for the problems.
But even if you are playing the blame game, it takes guts to put yourself in the spotlight. And he's done a little bit of the mea culpa.
"This Enron crisis is on a scale we have never seen and, God help us, we never see again," Berardino told Lou Dobbs Moneyline. "And what it does is put us all on heightened alert as to some of the fundamental issues we need to address in our profession and, frankly, that I need to address in my firm."
That sounds good, but it has done nothing for his company. Andersen remains under fire. Its credibility, and that of the accounting industry in general, are in doubt. And nobody seems to be buying the "We'll learn from this" line. Former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker, hired to conduct a review of the auditor, isn't going to make those words sound any better.
Berardino must make a stronger statement. He can do that by resigning. Not because he did anything wrong personally. Heck, he's only been on the job about a year.
"It would be absurd to consider him leaving," said Andersen spokesman Charlie Leonard. "... Mr. Berardino's the one leading the change of this firm and leading the change of the industry."
But it is clear something went terribly wrong at his company. And even if the problem started well before he took control, the fact of the matter is that the bomb exploded on his watch.
In Rome, generals that blew it sliced their gizzard. The same thing used to happen in Japan, not too long ago. Nowadays, a tearful apology and a departure are acceptable as a farewell ritual.
And Berardino could actually gain something for his company if he resigns.
His departure would signal that someone is willing to be held accountable. (Unlike Lay, he wouldn't be doing so after the ship had already sunk.) That would help diffuse some of the public anger being leveled at the auditor. And Andersen would get the chance to name a new Mr. Clean as its chief.
In fact, Volcker could name the new Mr. Clean, giving him or her a head start in the credibility department.
Given the track record -- scandals at Sunbeam, Waste Management and now Enron -- Andersen could use a clean sweep. Unfortunately, Andersen seems to prefer the payout route -- settling claims from shareholders out of court and without admitting any liability.
By the way ... way back in 1992 Andersen agreed to pay up to $30 million to settle claims it misrepresented the financial health of American Continental Corp. and its subsidiaries. The subsidiaries included the infamous Charles Keating's failed savings and loan.
Andersen needs to break with a long time tradition of flirting with the dubious. Berardino can give the firm that chance ... by going away. 
Allen Wastler is managing editor of CNN/Money
Click here to send mail to Allen
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