Arthur Andersen LLP was an American accounting firm based in Chicago that provided auditing, tax advising, consulting and other professional services to large corporations. By 2001, it had become one of the world's largest multinational corporations and was one of the "Big Five" accounting firms (along with Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers). The firm collapsed by mid-2002, as details of its questionable accounting practices for energy company Enron and telecommunications company WorldCom were revealed amid the two high-profile bankruptcies. The scandals were a factor in the enactment of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002.
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Arthur Andersen in the context of Reputational risk
Reputational damage is the loss to financial capital, social capital and/or market share resulting from damage to an organization's reputation. This is often measured in lost revenue, increased operating, capital or regulatory costs, or destruction of shareholder value. Ethics violations, safety issues, security issues, a lack of sustainability, poor quality, and lack of or unethical innovation can all cause reputational damage if they become known.
Reputational damage can result from an adverse or potentially criminal event, regardless of whether the company is directly responsible for said event (as was the case of the Chicago Tylenol murders in 1982). Extreme cases may lead to large financial losses or bankruptcy, as per the case of Arthur Andersen.
View the full Wikipedia page for Reputational riskArthur Andersen in the context of Deloitte
Deloitte is a British multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest professional services network in the world by revenue and number of employees, and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, along with EY, KPMG, and PwC. The Deloitte network is composed of member firms of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (/dəˈlɔɪt ˈtuːʃ toʊˈmɑːtsuː/ də-LOYT TOOSH toh-MAHT-soo) a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales.
The firm was founded by accountant William Welch Deloitte in London, England in 1845 and expanded into the United States in 1890. It merged with Haskins & Sells to form Deloitte Haskins & Sells in 1972 and with Touche Ross in the US to form Deloitte & Touche in 1989. In 1993, the international firm was renamed Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, later abbreviated to Deloitte. In 2002, Arthur Andersen's practice in the UK as well as several of that firm's practices in Europe and North and South America agreed to merge with Deloitte. Subsequent acquisitions have included Monitor Group, a large strategy consulting business, in 2013.
View the full Wikipedia page for Deloitte