One of the most memorable falls from grace was the collapse of Arthur Andersen in the wake of the Enron scandal in 2001.
In the previous year one of my professor’s at my business school vaxed lyrical about Arthur Andersen, how they were a beacon of quality in their field. Only the creme de la creme could ever hope for a job there.
And a year later it was gone.
One cannot help but wonder what KPMG worldwide is thinking in the wake of the economic collapse in Iceland. Its office in Reykjavik has worked for banks and businesses that are being revealed as Enrons in their own right, Glitnir and FL Group being the most obvious.
It is clear as daylight that the owners of Glitnir and FL Group used their positions to suck public companies dry of capital. They could not have done so without their accountants knowledge, even participation.
The amazing thing, which speaks volumes of the corrupt system in Iceland is that KPMG was hired by the government to investigate Glitnir’s books. Akin to the criminal being asked to investigate the crime, KPMG was forced to resign from the task to avoid its name becoming synonimous with fraud and corruption.
Did they manage to do so or might it have been too late?
