Arthur Anderson- you must have heard this name especially if you are in Accounting and Finance Domain.
The firm was one of the Big 5 accounting and audit firms along with PWC, EY, KPMG & Deloitte but filed for bankruptcy after Enron scandal in 2001.
The firm is coming back after about 16 years and will have offices in 16 countries across 5 continents including India. The firm has plans for opening offices in Canada & China soon.
Newspapers in US and across the globe had headlines ” Arthur Andersen’s Fall From Grace Is a Sad Tale of Greed and Miscues” after Arthur Anderson was found of financial fraud on Energy giant Enron.
On Mar 01, 2017 headline in Mumbai read Back to Business-Arthur Anderson (AA). The headline was posted on LinkedIn by Stephane Laffont-Reveilhac, who is the Paris-based global managing partner of the reconstituted professional services entity, Arthur Andersen.
The firm is already in talks with 2 Indian firms and is expected to be operational by May2017. It will pose a challenge to Big 4 firms who had absorbed its business. Currently combined revenue of Big 4 is pegged at 10000 Crores. There are around 1,200 partners in Big 4 and earn approx 1 Crore each annually.
Once it is operational, ex Arthur Anderson employees from Big 4 are expected to Join AA.