| 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 lost its auditing
licenses in the U.S. as a result of involvement in the Enron collapse. Andersen has sold 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 (http://www.qcenter.com/), 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. 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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