Elan Corp, a Dublin-based pharmaceutical company who were accused by the Wall Street journal of Enron-like accounting practices, has said that it is in the process of dismantling research and development joint venture companies which fall outside its new core areas of neurology pain and auto-immune.

Company spokesperson Sunny Uberoi said: "We had 55 joint ventures and those are in the process of being unwound."

He said the company's future operations in Bermuda might be affected, but legal notices which appeared in the Bermuda Sun last week do not relate directly to the liquidation of joint ventures.

The notices announced the voluntary winding up of Elan International Holdings (Bermuda) Ltd, Elan Acquisition Co., Ltd, Elan Capital Management, Ltd. and Elan Capital Management, Ltd. "Those are only dormant companies," said Mr. Uberoi. Last year Elan Corp went through a number of setbacks including troubles with clinical trials for the company's Alzheimer vaccine and Elan Corp's share price dropped from $60 to $1.

The company's Bermuda subsidiaries came under particular scrutiny amid questions surrounding its accountancy practices, such as the practice of investing money in joint ventures and then taking back a large chunk as licensing fees which are booked as revenues. "Joint ventures were set up to minimise the risk," explained Mr. Uberoi, but under their new recovery plan the company has responded to demands from analysts for a simpler corporate structure with greater transparency.

"We needed to restore investor confidence."