Arthur Andersen name revived by independent tax firm in California

WTAS (Wealth and Tax Advisory Services) has renamed itself Andersen Tax

The renamed Andersen Tax is based in San Francisco (Getty Images )

A dozen years after the demise of Enron auditor Arthur Andersen, part of its name is being revived by some of its former partners.

From today, WTAS (or Wealth and Tax Advisory Services), a San Francisco-based tax consultancy, has renamed itself Andersen Tax. It has 23 former Arthur Andersen partners who set up their own business after the audit firm’s disappearance after the $100 billion (£60.42 billion) accounting fraud by energy trader Enron.

“Our issues with Enron were the mistake of a few,” said chief executive Mark Vorsatz. “Irrespective of Enron, we thought we were the benchmark in the industry.”

But others believe that the name will always be associated with the Enron scandal which cost shareholders billions of dollars.

Lynn Turner, a former chief accountant at the US Securities and Exchange Commission who helped write new laws after Enron, said it was “incredible” that any company would seek to revive the Andersen name.