Andersen Worldwide

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Andersen Worldwide Société Coopérative (AWSC) was a Swiss-based entity which managed the global offices of accounting firm Arthur Andersen. It was also the parent corporation of Andersen Consulting (now called Accenture) before its split in 2000.

This umbrella organization was formed in 1989 as the tensions between the two groups of Arthur Andersen (Accounting and Consulting) increased. In 1997, Andersen Consulting asked to break away from Andersen Worldwide. Three years later after a long arbitration process under the International Chamber of Commerce Andersen Consulting finally broke away agreeing to relinquish the use of the name "Andersen" by 1/1/2001. Sources often mis-reported that Andersen Consulting had to pay $1 Billion for its independence. This is inaccurate. Andersen Consulting had been paying Arthur Andersen many millions per year, which was at the crux of why Andersen Consulting wanted to break away. The $1 Billion payment at the time of the break-up was not a "payment for independence", rather, it was simply the regular annual payments which were held in escrow until a final arbitration decision was reached. 4 hours after the verdict was official, Arthur Andersen's CEO Jim Wadia promptly resigned. It was later reported by Wadia that a resolution had been passed by Arthur Andersen's board that Wadia had to get at least $4 billion (over and above the regular annual payments) from Andersen Consulting or step down.