From its establishment in 1989 until its incorporation in 2001, Accenture (known as Andersen Consulting prior to Jan. 1, 2001) was structured as a group of independent partnerships and corporations, referred to as Accenture “member firms,” in more than 40 countries around the world. Each of the Accenture member firms had separately entered into a contractual agreement with Andersen Worldwide Société Coopérative (AWSC), a Swiss administrative entity responsible for coordinating the practices of the separate Accenture and Arthur Andersen firms. At all times since 1989, Accenture and Arthur Andersen were legally separate, distinct and independent, each with its own management, partners, employees, capital, premises, business, clients and market place images.
In December 1997, Accenture formally requested arbitration with the International Chamber of Commerce and sought termination of its contractual agreements with AWSC, claiming that AWSC had breached its material obligations to Accenture. Specifically, Accenture claimed that AWSC had, among other things, failed to coordinate the practices of the Accenture member firms with those of the Arthur Andersen member firms and to ensure that the Arthur Andersen member firms would not compete with the Accenture member firms.
In August 2000, the International Chamber of Commerce arbitrator concluded that AWSC had breached its material obligations to Accenture and terminated all contractual obligations that Accenture had to AWSC and, indirectly, to the Arthur Andersen firms. The arbitrator expressly recognized the legal separateness of Accenture from Arthur Andersen firms and AWSC. The arbitrator also ruled that Andersen Consulting must, by Dec. 31, 2000, “…cease using the Andersen name or any derivative thereof…” Therefore, the company adopted the Accenture name on Jan. 1, 2001.