Arthur Andersen - Definition and Overview

Arthur Andersen LLP, based in Chicago, Illinois, was one of the Big Five accounting firms and performed auditing, tax services, and consulting until 2000. In 2002 the firm lost auditing license in the U.S. as a result of involvement in the Enron collapse. Andersen has sold its assets outside the U.S. to other firms such as Ernst & Young.

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 the AA side cite greed and arrogance on the part of the AC partners, while 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.

Involvement in accounting scandals

On June 15, 2002, Andersen was convicted of obstruction of justice for shredding documents related to 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 practiced fraudulent accounting for Sunbeam, Waste Management, Asia Pulp and Paper, and the Baptist Foundation of Arizona, among others.

See also

• Accounting scandals
• Timeline of the Enron scandal
• Corporate abuse

External links

• U.S. official site (http://www.andersen.com/)
• Indictment of U.S. v. Arthur Andersen, LLP. (http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/enron/usandersen030702ind.html)
• Copy of Andersen attorney Nancy Temple's e-mail (http://www.chron.com/content/news/photos/02/06/15/andmemo4.jpg)

News

• Arthur Andersen news (http://arthurandersen.newstrove.com/)

Articles

• Arthur Andersen and the Baptists (http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2002/02/07/arthur_andersen/) (Salon.com)