The shamed accountancy firm, Arthur Andersen, is poised to make a return 12 years after a major scandal forced its closure.
Former partners in Arthur Andersen have bought the rights to the name and intend to rename their consultancy “Andersen Tax”.
Arthur Andersen intentionally shredded audit documents about energy company Enron during an investigation into the cover-up of losses of billions of dollars at Enron.
Enron collapsed in 2001 with Arthur Andersen following swiftly after in 2002. Arthur Andersen was eventually found guilty of obstructing justice.
Before then, the firm had been respected and in the world’s “big five” accountancy services.
The Enron affair became one of the largest corporate scandals in history. Thousands of people lost their jobs, shareholders lost fortunes. Nearly 100,000 at Andersen also lost their jobs.
After Andersen closed, more than 20 former partners set up a tax firm and grew it to become one of the largest in the US. It wisely does not take on any audit work.