And just when you thought that Arthur Andersen LLP had decended to the bottom of the slimepits, and that they could descend no more, you discover that yes, indeed, they CAN get more disgusting ... as long as it's outside the US.

Let's take this in sequence, shall we? Let's shall.

St. Thomas More's future is still in doubt: ... A Supreme Court of Canada decision shed light on the future of the private, co-ed school. But, instead of clarifying, the light revealed a legal tangle surrounding St. Thomas More. [...] CBIC was incorporated in 1962 to hold the assets of the Congregation of Christian Brothers, a Catholic lay congregation - not priests. Among its other interests is Vancouver College, which it also defines as a charitable trust set up around 1920, and the Mount Cashel Orphanage the congregation used to operate in Newfoundland. Some Christian Brothers were found guilty of abusing children in their care at the orphanage, and the victims later filed civil claims against the congregation. [...] "They decided to sell the company (CBIC) as a means of generating funds to compensate the victims," explained John Nixon, Vancouver College's board chair and spokesperson who is well-versed in the history of the case. In the meantime, the Ontario courts - CBIC is based in Ontario - appointed Arthur Andersen as liquidator to dispose of company assets. [...] Arthur Andersen decided to sell the schools - the current listing is $12 million for St. Thomas More and $30 million for Vancouver College - in order to generate funds to help compensate the victims. [...] Canadian Attorneys General are responsible for protecting charitable trusts, so the province filed a petition in BC Supreme Court last March trying to block the sale. Nixon said if they're successful they'll dismiss Arthur Andersen "on the grounds that the trustee is trying to break the trust" by selling the schools.

In short, CBIC had assets -- schools, principally -- all over Canada, and Andersen, back when it was in good odure, was retained to sell certain of those assets. The problem administratively now seems to be that the trust owns the schools, but the trustees (Andersen) have the right to sell them without the trust's consent. Or something like that. Oddly, the case is still ongoing. I'm not entirely sure why; you'd think that Ontario or British Columbia could have had Andersen dismissed as trustees simply because they were under criminal investigation in the US, but such did not happen. It's especially puzzling since Andersen will effectively be out of business in the US on July 31; this must be part of the whole limited partnership mess, so that Andersen Canada is an entirely different entity than any of Andersen US.

In the meantime, Andersen Canada has not been letting the grass grow under its feet, oh no no no!

Christian Brothers liquidator spends $7 million: All of the estimated $7 million raised through the liquidation of assets in Newfoundland and Ontario of the Christian Brothers of Ireland in Canada since 1996 has been spent on legal fees and related expenses without a single penny going to victims of abuse at the former Mount Cashel Orphanage, charges a St. John’s lawyer. Most of the money was consumed in an ongoing legal battle to force the liquidation of two of British Columbia’s most prestigious private schools, said Bob Buckingham, who represents 10 of the Mount Cashel claimants.

The problem is that Andersen Canada didn't count on St Thomas More and Vancouver College fighting back at all, let alone with any degree of success. Now, properly speaking, most of the money should have gone to the victims of the abuse. Add to that the fact that the province of Newfoundland wants to be repaid what it spent to settle some of the cases, and there'd be no money left from the current pool to pay Andersen Canada's fees! Oh, no! Whatever shall they do! What seems to be going on is that Andersen is making sure that it gets paid first, and in this case, they're the only ones getting any money at all.

To be sure, Vancouver College and St Thomas More seem to be the most valuable properties in the CBIC. And no, it would not be fair to expect Andersen Canada to do all that work without getting paid.

That said, assuming that Andersen Canada wins the legal battle against the colleges, one just wonders how much of the proceeds will actually make it to the victims.