According to the ruling, which buffeted the accounting industry, the judge divided up about $45.8 million in legal fees and associated costs, with Andersen Worldwide Societe Cooperative, a Swiss Cooperative entity, having to fork over the largest amount, that being about $20.6 million.

Andersen Consulting will pay about $17.8 million in arbitrator's fees, ICC administrative costs, legal fees for the Consulting unit and a percentage of the legal fees for Arthur Andersen, the ruling states.

Arthur Andersen will pay about $7.2 million in arbitrator's fees, ICC administrative costs, and a percentage of the legal costs for AC.

The ruling marks the end of a two-and-a-half year arbitration process that began when Andersen Consulting charged Arthur Andersen with violating the operating agreement that called for the two units to operate in completely separate areas.

As part of a September 1989 restructuring, Arthur Andersen and Andersen Consulting were set up as two stand-alone business units chartered with providing separate and complementary services.

Under the agreement, Arthur Andersen was to continue as a tax, audit and accounting firm, while Andersen Consulting would provide management and technology consulting.

The long-awaited ruling forces Andersen Consulting to give up the Andersen name and to pay about $1 billion to the partners at Arthur Andersen. That money, which consists of regularly scheduled payments between the firms, has been stored in escrow since the arbitration began in December 1997.

Andersen Consulting executives said they have not yet decided on their new identity, which will cost about $100 million to register and establish.

The arbitrator also ruled that Andersen Consulting must return any technology jointly held by the firms, but Andersen Consulting dodged a $14 billion payment that could have been awarded under the contract between the two firms.

Hours after the ruling was announced, Jim Wadia, worldwide managing partner for Arthur Andersen announced that he is resigning from his position and has chosen to take early retirement from the firm.

The mission of Andersen Worldwide was to provide coordination between the two units and ensure they continued to operate cooperatively and compatibly.

In requesting arbitration in December 1997, Andersen Consulting charged the agreements among the firms had been seriously breached by Arthur Andersen's expansion into business consulting areas such as technology integration, strategic business planning and business transformation.

-- By Antoinette Alexander

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ICC Ruling

For the original copy of the ruling of the International Chamber of Commerce in the Andersen Consulting case, as provided by Andersen Consulting, click here for the PDF download www.ac.com.