Here’s where we currently stand in the overly consolidated world of international accountancy.
Firms ranked by revenues:
- Price Waterhouse Coopers Lybrand Ross Montgomery
- Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Haskins Sells Plender Griffiths Ross Bailey Smart Niven Baily
- Ernst Young Arthur Whinney Murray Smith
- Klynveld Peat Marwick Michell Main William Barclay Goerdeler Kraayenhof Thomson McLintock Lafrentz Deutsche Treuhand Gesellschaft
Shame to lose the one with the simplest history just because of a little mis-booking for a dying investment bank.
How has the accountancy profession sector got itself into a position where we can actually even speculate on the emergence of a “Big Three”?
After Enron took down Arthur Andersen we were supposed to get a newly-emboldened mid-tier of firms, keeping the number-crunching trade competitive.
When that didn’t happen, all sorts of quangos and committees were set up on both sides of the Atlantic to look at the matter.
Nothing happened. Why not?
Related links:
The small numbers causing a big stir – FT Accountancy column from 2007
Whither Ernst & Young and Linklaters? – Felix Salmon