Andersen To Join PWC In Hong Kong

by Mary Swire, Tax-News.com, Hong Kong

22 March 2002

It was announced yesterday that Arthur Andersen's Hong Kong and mainland China offices are joining rivals PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC).

Albert Ng, Andersen's managing partner for Greater China, said in a statement: "Whilst we remain deeply upset by the events affecting Andersen in the USA which have led to this development, we have no doubt that joining PricewaterhouseCoopers offers great opportunities and benefits for our firm, our people and - above all - our clients."

In Hong Kong the news broke through an internal staff memo which said that Silas Yang, chairman and senior partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers in Hong Kong, would be in charge of the combined firms. A subsequent brief press announcement merely said the practices would 'join'.

"It's more like them joining us," a PWC spokeswoman said. "We are combining the two firms . . . We have a similar culture and offer complementary services." The new combined firm will have 6,000 staff, split equally between Hong Kong and the mainland, she said.

Last week, after the US Justice Department indicted Arthur Andersen LLP on a count of obstruction of justice, described by the firm's lawyer as a 'corporate death warrant', the managing partner of the Hong Kong office, Allan Aw, distanced the local firm and its partners from the US charge.

"There is no direct relationship between the two of us. There is no ownership relationship. Arthur Andersen Hong Kong is completely owned by local partners," Mr Aw said, claiming that, to the best of his understanding, the international partners in the Hong Kong firm - members of Andersen Worldwide Societe Co-operative - were not exposed to fallout from the criminal charge or from any future civil charges relating to the Enron controversy.

A number of Andersen's major Hong Kong clients have said that they are reviewing Andersen's audit engagement, but that no decisions have yet been made on the issue. Mr Aw said the firm had not lost any local clients, and that staff were also remaining loyal to the firm.

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