Not so fond memories of Enron

December 2 was the 10th anniversary of the Enron bankruptcy.

Just a few of the big consequences of that massive fraud were Sarbanes-Oxley legislation and the bankruptcy of Arthur Andersen. 

Two of the subtle consequences are that it’s now a federal felony to destroy any documents after a federal investigation has begun (when the IRS or ICE has merely started asking questions about one of your clients, it becomes a felony to do a routine shredding in your office or cleanup of your e-mail) and PCAOB is setting standards for public company audits.

If you need to refresh your memory of what happened, here are just a few of the recent blog posts discussing that not-so-wonderful time:

10 years after Enron, the wound is still freshCPA Success

The Legacy of Arthur Andersenre: The Auditors

And a contrarian opinion that things have gone downhill since then (mild language warning):

Look, You Guys, You Should Really Be Thankful for Enron’s BankruptcyGoing Concern

Maybe this should be Part Ib of my What’s going on in the big firm posts.

3 thoughts on “Not so fond memories of Enron”

  1. Pingback: To what purpose did Arthur Andersen die? Part 2 « Attestation Update – A&A for CPAs

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