Arthur Andersen LLP, based in Chicago, Illinois, was the largest of the Big Five accounting firms and performed auditing, tax services, and consulting. In 2002 the firm voluntarily surrendered its Certified Public Accounting firm licenses in the U.S. as a result of involvement in the Enron collapse. Due to the actions of Nancy Temple (in-house attorney) and David Duncan (Enron engagement partner), the jury convicted the firm of obstruction of justice. This felony would have resulted in the revocation of the Firm's Certified Public Accounting firm licenses. Andersen has sold most its assets to the other Big Five firms, now called the Big Four.
One of the few revenue-generating assets that Andersen still has is The Q Center, a conference and training facility outside of Chicago.
Involvement in accounting scandals
On June 15, 2002, Andersen was convicted of obstruction of justice for shredding documents related to its audit of Enron. An added blow for the company may come from its role as the auditor for WorldCom.
In the past Andersen has been alleged to have involved in the fraudulent accounting and auditing of Sunbeam, Waste Management , Asia Pulp and Paper , and the Baptist Foundation of Arizona, among others.
History
Founding
Arthur Andersen was founded in 1913 by Arthur Andersen and Clarence DeLany as Andersen, DeLany & Co. He once was a professor of accounting at Northwestern University.The firm changed its name to Arthur Andersen & Co. in 1918. Arthur Andersen's first client was the Schlitz beer company of Milwaukee.
Relationship to Accenture
Arthur Andersen and Andersen Consulting were both business units of Andersen Worldwide before their split in 2000. As a result of that split, Andersen Consulting was forced to change its name, which it did on Jan 1, 2001. The new company, free now of Arthur Andersen, named itself Accenture.
Accounts vary on why the split occurred--executives on both sides of the split cite greed and arrogance on the part of the other side, and executives on the AC side maintained breach of contract when AA created a second consulting group, AABC (Arthur Andersen Business Consulting) which began to compete directly with AC in the marketplace.
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Last updated: 10-24-2005 12:18:13
