The Enron And Arthur Anderson Scandal

Arthur Andersen was once the eighth largest accounting firms in the United States who conducted auditing tax and consulting services to large corporations. Likewise, Arthur Andersen was also responsible for both Enron and Worldcom auditing processes and transactions during the corporate scandals. Prior to the Enron and Worldcom’s scandals, Arthur Andersen was a firm known for its trust, ethics, and integrity (Squires, 2003). In Andersen’s early years, their reputation gave them a competitive advantage in the market which also help them to attract new clients which resulted in continuously high profits. According to Squires (2003), Andersen leaded the way for accounting professions; he believed in putting the interests of the general public

The use of insider information is illegal in the United States. Insider information is stock related information that can be obtained many ways to gain large, abnormal gains in the stock market. A popular way to gather inside information is from direct employees of the company. Information on stocks can either be illegal or legal. If the information is publicized for all current or future investors to use, then it isn't illegal. Illegal information becomes unlawful when it becomes privatized from the public, and to be only used by investors in the stock market. The action of using insider information isn’t considered illegal until the information is used in a stock market located in the United States, most commonly the New York Stock

Enron scandal spiralled out of controlled by actions perpetuated by the indirect knowledge or direct actions of Lay, Jeffrey Skilling, Andrew Fastow, and other executives. Also, the inability for this action to be detected by gatekeepers, which includes Auditors, Credit rating companies, Financial Analysts, can also be attributed to their collapse. Also, the involvement of banks and the press who awarded numerous awards amongst which is most innovative company and described them a “new business model”. Further, Enron six million dollars contribution to Federal politician candidates and parties cannot be ignored in this scandal. Although no concrete prove can be attested to bribery, it is my opinion that politician had a

This essay will discuss the ethical code that has major influence on audit failure and what scholars are saying towards auditor’s credibility and auditor’s code of ethics because when a company goes bankrupt the auditor’s independence is questioned and shaken (Moore et al 2006). It will also show what legislative body governing auditors are doing because users of financial statement are searching for auditors whose obligations covers: report of correct records, assurance that the financial statement is of true and fair view, company guards against errors and fraud, auditors are abiding by the rules and so on (Percy 2007).

In the three excerpts that will be discussed in this report there is a theme. That theme is ethics or the lack there of. What all three of these cases have in common is that people were willing to trade in their reputations, their livelihood and in some cases their personal freedom to get what they wanted. In two of the examples, the prize they sought was money, pure and simply a case of greed. Importantly, these people already had significant wealth, and they were willing to take the chance on losing what they had already attained to get more. In the other case, the defendant’s ethics are what initiated his behavior.

The paramount onus of an auditing professional is conveying reliable information to clients and the public so that they may make imperative, intellectual decisions. For this obligation to be fulfilled, a quality audit must be performed in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards (GAAS). Executing a quality audit necessitates an auditor reasonably assures financial statements are presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and not materially misstated, whether due to errors or fraud. Furthermore, executing a quality audit obliges an auditor to utilize professional skepticism by exercising proficient judgment and proves competency in accounting principles and professional auditing

In light of the recent scandals that rose around big multinationals such as Enron and WorldCom, it has become evident that reform in the traditional corporate operations and objectives was to be encompassed in the organisations corporate strategies. Indeed throughout the years, companies main objectives were defined primarily as being economic objectives, Multinationals developed with sight of profit maximisations regardless to the other incentives, Friedman considered that to be the foundation for a well-managed company, it was further considered that the financing of any other sort of social corporate activities rather unnecessary. The expenses were regarded as expenditures for the owners and investors; this was a time where shareholders rights were regarded as conflicting with other constituents namely the employees, creditors, customers or the community in general. However this interpretation is seen as rather inadequate due to the nature of the amalgamated relation between both constituents. Stakeholders in modern corporate doctrine are considered as a core apparatus for the well functioning of a business. It is however often argued that the only way for a corporation to achieve better results and maximise its profits is to include other people in the process, individuals or organisations with direct or indirect interest in the well performance of the company, that is the reason why modern regulations and codes include a number of stakeholders other than the

#1. The segment that put Enron in difficulties was the LJM1. That SPE was the worst of all four SPE’s. This one had no independant investor that could put up the 3% that they needed for the controlling investor, where CHEWCO would work as a counterparty accounting to the U>S> guidelines. Enron already owned 97% of CHEWCO, where if they had a controlling investor, the profits from CHEWCO would go directly to Enron’s assets. Later, they did not find a controller investor, and invented another SPE, which was LJM2. The problems in LJM1 still was there that affected LJM2. Arthur Anderson, the auditor for Enron, went ahead and approved of this SPE, knowing that the financial statements had

The Enron Corporation was founded in 1985 by Kenneth Lay and based in Houston, Texas. Enron was known as one of the world’s leading electricity, natural gas, communications and pulp and paper companies. By the late 1990s Enron was considered one of the country’s most groundbreaking companies constructing power plants, gas lines, buying and selling electricity and gas, and partaking in a unique trading business; creating whole new markets for oddball commodities. In 1995 annual revenues were around $9 billion and rose to over $100 billion in 2000. (Yahao, 2010) “White-collar crime is planned or organized illegal acts of deception or fraud, usually accomplished during the course of legitimate occupational activity, committed by an individual or corporate entity” (Benson, 2009 pg. 11).

Internet was being used as a new medium of doing business. It helped in growth in the trading business

Ethics in the business world can often times become a second priority behind the gaining of profits and success as a company. This is the controversial issue that led to the Enron scandal and ultimately the fall of this company. Enron Corporation was an energy company, and in the peaks of their success, they were the top supplier of natural gas and electricity throughout America. Enron Corporation came about from a merger between Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth. Houston Natural Gas was a gas providing company formed in Houston during the 1920’s. InterNorth was a company formed in Nebraska during the 1930’s and owned one of America’s largest pipeline networks. In 1985, Sam Segnar, the CEO of InterNorth bought out Houston Natural Gas for $2.4 billion. A year later in 1986, Segnar retired and was replaced by Kenneth Lay, who renamed the company and created Enron. Enron was the owner of the second largest pipeline in America that measured over 36,000 miles. The company was also the creator of the “Gas Bank”, which was a new way to trade and market natural gas and served as an intermediary between buyers and sellers. As the company continued to develop, it became more of a trader rather than a producer of gas. This trading extended into coal, steel, water and many other areas. One of Enron’s largest successes was their creation of a website called, “Enron Online” in 1999, which quickly became one of the top trading cites in the world. By the year 2000 Enron as a company was

Enron and Arthur Anderson were both giants in their own industry. Enron, a Texas based company in the energy trading business, was expanding rapidly in both domestic and global markets. Arthur Anderson, LLC. (Anderson), based out of Chicago, was well established as one of the big five accounting firms. But the means by which they achieved this status became questionable and eventually contributed to their demise. Enron used what if often referred to as “creative” accounting methods, this resulted in them posting record breaking earnings. Anderson, who earned substantial audit and consultation fees from Enron, failed to comply with the auditing standards required in their line of work. Investigations and reports have resulted in finger

Most of the world has heard of Enron, the American, mega-energy company that “cooked their books” ( ) and cost their investors billions of dollars in lost earnings and retirement funds. While much of the controversy surrounding the Enron scandal focused on the losses of investors, unethical practices of executives and questionable accounting tactics, there were many others within close proximity to the turmoil. It begs the question- who was really at fault and what has been done to prevent it from happening again?

An audit is ‘an independent examination of, and the subsequent expression of opinion on, the financial statements of an organization’ (Hussey, 1999, p. 33). The audit can be viewed as an integral part of corporate financial reporting, where the assurance it provides stems from the trust placed in the judgement of the auditor. The audit is designed to demonstrate ‘the completeness, accuracy and validity of transactions which, when aggregated, make up the financial statements’ (Power, 1997, p. 24).

In the history of accounting, "Enron scandal" means more than just a legend of accounting managements. It exceeds every other accountings deceit, because the need to secrete its real economic situation was not just a matter of hiding failures borne out of unsuccessful business protrusions. In our summary of the ten major accounting scandals that altered the business world, Enron led the set of white collar crimes committed out of pure gluttony (McLean & Peter, 2003).