Arthur Andersen LLP

Arthur Andersen LLP, based in Chicago, Illinois, used to be 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 breech of contract when AA created a second consulting group, AABC (Arthur Andersen Business Consulting) which began to compete directly with AC in the marketplace.

www.arthurandersen.com

Updated On: 15.02.17