The Enron scandal has &quotsaved the butts&quot of the world's leading investment banks who profited from the initial public offering dot.com boom at the expense of investors, according to Jack Welch, former chairman and chief executive of General Electric.

Speaking at the awards ceremony for the inaugural Financial News Awards for Corporate Excellence, Welch attacked the investment banking community for the huge losses suffered in the wake of the collapse of the dot.com boom. He said that were it not for the Enron scandal, many bankers could find themselves standing before the US Congress, facing investigation of their IPO practices.