House panel may use subpoenas in Enron probe

- WASHINGTON - The chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee said on Thursday he would not hesitate to use subpoenas in his promised investigation into the collapse of energy trading giant Enron Corp. .

Rep. Billy Tauzin, a Louisiana Republican, also told Reuters he would lay out his plans as early as next week for the investigation into Enron's accounting practices.

Enron, once the biggest trader of energy and natural gas, filed for protection from its creditors on Sunday in the biggest filing ever under U.S. bankruptcy law.

House Energy Committee investigators were talking with Enron officials in Houston on Thursday. Tauzin said he did not know how long the investigators would stay there and that he had not been briefed on the meeting.

Tauzin said he would lay out plans for the investigation as early as next week, after an initial round of information gathering.

Tauzin also said he will investigate whether there were "multiple problems" that could have contributed to Enron's swift downfall and bankruptcy. The House energy panel is aiming to schedule hearings in January.

The panel was looking at several potential problems that may have contributed to Enron's collapse, including accounting procedures, the lack of transparency in Enron's trading system, and the company's use of off-balance-sheet transactions, Tauzin said.

Earlier this week, the committee's investigators interviewed Enron's auditors, Arthur Andersen, enforcement officials at the Securities and Exchange Commission, and members of the Financial Accounting Standards Board.

At least two other congressional panels have also launched investigations of Enron's financial problems.

The House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing next week to hear from Enron chief executive Kenneth Lay and SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt.

The Senate Energy Committee also plans to evaluate the impact of Enron's demise on U.S. energy markets.

The U.S. Labor Department also said this week it would look at how Enron handled its employees' retirement benefit plans. The company temporarily froze trading of its retirement plan assets shortly before its collapse.

Enron's stock closed at 67 cents on Thursday, down from a high of $90.56 in August 2000.