Arthur Andersen - Demise

Demise

Since the ruling vacated Andersen's felony conviction, it theoretically left Andersen free to resume operations. However, the damage to the Andersen name was so severe that it has not returned as a viable business even on a limited scale. There are over 100 civil suits pending against the firm related to its audits of Enron and other companies. In addition, its reputation was so badly tarnished that no company wanted Andersen's name on an audit. Even before voluntarily surrendering its right to practice before the SEC, it had many of its state licenses revoked. A new verb, "Enron-ed" was coined by John M. Cunningham, the former Arthur Andersen Director in the Seattle Office, to describe the demise of Arthur Andersen.

From a high of 28,000 employees in the US and 85,000 worldwide, the firm is now down to around 200, based primarily in Chicago. Most of their attention is on handling the lawsuits and presiding over the orderly dissolution of the company.

As of 2011, Arthur Andersen LLP has not been formally dissolved nor has it declared bankruptcy. Ownership of the partnership has been ceded to four limited liability corporations named Omega Management I through IV. As of 2011, Arthur Andersen LLP still operates the Q Center conference center in St. Charles, Illinois, nowadays mostly used for Accenture trainings.

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