Andersen's Merger Plan

The move, endorced by executives in 14 countries, including Britain, could take place as early as October.

It is believed that the Andersen name will be dropped outside the US.

Excluding the United States, Andersen and KPMG have a combined workforce of 140,000 and revenues of $12.2bn.

The Financial Services Authority is already believed to have expressed some concerns about the merger on grounds of competition and the proposed tie-up would need to be cleared by a variety of regulatory bodies.