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Re: From "This Just In..."



This is a hard one to judge on.  The question is whether there was a policy that allowed or required the destruction of records.  Quite often, retention schedules read, "Keep for 5 years or until audit."  Every time I see that statement, I cringe, since it implies that that once an audit is done, records can/must be destroyed and so make checking up on the auditing agency's competence or honesty next to impossible.  Still, it appears to be pretty standard practice.

This is critical.  The ones who should be looked at closely are not Enron, per se, but Arthur Anderson, the auditing firm.  AA is responsible for the plurality if not the majority of all Fortune 500 reports that go to the SEC.  If they cannot be audited themselves, there could be real trouble awaiting everyone....  Quis custodiet ipsos custodies?

Yet, as archivists and records managers, we are responsible not only for preservation, but for the orderly and timely destruction of records, once their legal or organizational mandate requires it.  Under these circumstances, is it possible to retain documentary evidence that would allow "second-guessing" of auditing agencies, either through the identification of key documents or through a sampling scheme.

Any thoughts from the group?

John Fowler

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