A corporate collapse typically involves the insolvency or

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

of a major business enterprise. A corporate scandal involves alleged or actual unethical behavior by people acting within or on behalf of a corporation. Many recent corporate collapses and scandals have involved false or inappropriate

accounting Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the measurement, processing, and communication of financial and non financial information about economic entities such as businesses and corporations. Accounting, which has been called the "languag ...

of some sort (see list at accounting scandals).

List of major corporate collapses

The following list of corporations involved major collapses, through the risk of job losses or size of the business, and meant entering into insolvency or

, or being

nationalised Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...

or requiring a non-market loan by a government.

List of scandals without insolvency

* Australia & New Zealand Banking Group scandal involving misleading file notes in the Financial Ombudsman Service (Australia) presented to the

Supreme Court of Victoria The Supreme Court of Victoria is the highest court in the Australian state of Victoria. Founded in 1852, it is a superior court of common law and equity, with unlimited and inherent jurisdiction within the state. The Supreme Court comprises ...

. * Australia & New Zealand Banking Group allegations of racial bigotry toward billionaire businessman Pankaj Oswal and his wife. Court was presented with emails where an ANZ staff member comments to ANZ CEO Mike Smith: "We are dealing with Indians with no moral compass and an Indian woman as every bit as devious as PO (Mr Oswal)." * Australia & New Zealand Banking Group toxic culture. Court case where allegations were made by ex-employees that the bank's senior management tolerated drugs and strip clubs. * Australia & New Zealand Banking Group alleged manipulation of the Australian benchmark interest rates. ANZ is currently being pursued by the

Australian Securities and Investments Commission The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is an independent commission of the Australian Government tasked as the national corporate regulator. ASIC's role is to regulate company and financial services and enforce laws to pro ...

, which filed an originating process in the Federal Court of Australia against ANZ in March 2016. *

BAE Systems BAE Systems plc (BAE) is a British multinational arms, security, and aerospace company based in London, England. It is the largest defence contractor in Europe, and ranked the seventh-largest in the world based on applicable 2021 revenues. ...

bribery scandal related to the

Al-Yamamah arms deal Al Yamamah ( ar, اليمامة, translation=The Dove) is the name of a series of record arms sales by the United Kingdom to Saudi Arabia, paid for by the delivery of up to of crude oil per day to the British government. The prime contracto ...

with Saudi Arabia * Bristol-Myers Squibb accounting scandal * British Airways, for the " Dirty Tricks" scandal against Virgin Atlantic * Brown & Williamson, for chemically enhancing the addictiveness of cigarettes, becoming the leading edge of the tobacco industry scandals of the 1990s, eventually resulting in the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement * Chevron- Texaco

Lago Agrio oil field The Lago Agrio oil field is an oil-rich area near the city of Nueva Loja in the province of Sucumbíos, Ecuador. It is located in the Western Oriente Basin. The site's hydrocarbon-bearing formations are the Cretaceous Napo and Hollin formation ...

pollution scandal *

Commonwealth Bank The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), or CommBank, is an Australian multinational bank with businesses across New Zealand, Asia, the United States and the United Kingdom. It provides a variety of financial services including retail, busines ...

facts uncovered that showed the insurance arm of the bank denied life insurance policy holders despite having legitimate claims, resulting in calls for a Royal Commission into the Australian insurance industry. *

provision of unsuitable financial advice to a large number of customers between 2003 and 2012 and continuous delay in providing compensation to victims. * Compass Group, bribed the United Nations in order to win business *

Corrib gas controversy The Corrib gas controversy was a social protest campaign against the Corrib gas project in north-western County Mayo, Ireland. The project involves the processing of gas onshore through Broadhaven and Sruth Fada Conn Bays in Kilcommon. Origi ...

Kilcommon, Erris, Co. Mayo, Ireland * Deutsche Bank, spying scandal * Deutsche Bank Libor scandal, agreed to a combined US$2.5 billion in fines *

Duke Energy Duke Energy Corporation is an American electric power and natural gas holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. Overview Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Duke Energy owns 58,200 megawatts of base-load and peak generation in ...

* El Paso Corp. * Fannie Mae, underreporting of

profit Profit may refer to: Business and law * Profit (accounting), the difference between the purchase price and the costs of bringing to market * Profit (economics), normal profit and economic profit * Profit (real property), a nonpossessory intere ...

* Firestone Tire & Rubber Company, part of the General Motors streetcar conspiracy, labor controversies, Firestone and Ford tire controversy *

Forced labour under German rule during World War II The use of slave and forced labour in Nazi Germany (german: Zwangsarbeit) and throughout German-occupied Europe during World War II took place on an unprecedented scale. It was a vital part of the German economic exploitation of conquered t ...

, financial enrichment by several major companies * Ford Pinto, fuel tank scandal * Financial Ombudsman Service (Australia) scandal involving misleading file notes in the Financial Ombudsman Service (Australia) presented to the Victorian Supreme Court. * Global Crossing * Guinness share-trading fraud *

Hafskip Hafskip was Iceland's second-largest shipping line before its collapse which became a national scandal. The firm had fallen deep into debt through its investment in new ships, intended to help the firm compete with Eimskip and American shipping fir ...

's collapse * Halliburton overcharging government contracts * Harken Energy Scandal * HealthSouth reporting exaggerated earnings * Hewlett-Packard spying scandal * Hospital Corporation of America * Homestore.com * KBC Bank human rights scandal * Kerr-McGee, the Karen Silkwood case * Kinney National Company financial scandal * Lernout & Hauspie accounting fraud * Lockheed bribery scandal in Germany, Japan, and Netherlands * Livedoor scandal * Luxembourg Leaks. Luxembourg under Jean-Claude Juncker's premiership had turned into a major European centre of corporate tax avoidance. *

Marsh McLennan Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc., doing business as Marsh McLennan, is a global professional services firm, headquartered in New York City with businesses in insurance brokerage, risk management, reinsurance services, talent management, investme ...

* Merck

Medicaid fraud Medicaid in the United States is a federal and state program that helps with healthcare costs for some people with limited income and resources. Medicaid also offers benefits not normally covered by Medicare, including nursing home care and pers ...

investigation * Mirant * Morrison-Knudsen scandal. Led to William Agee's ouster *

Mutual-fund scandal (2003) The mutual fund scandal of 2003 was the result of the discovery of illegal late trading and market timing practices on the part of certain hedge fund and mutual fund companies. Spitzer investigation On September 3, 2003, New York Attorney General ...

* Nestlé * Nugan Hand Bank *

Olympus Scandal The Olympus scandal was a case of accounting fraud exposed in Japan in 2011 at optical equipment manufacturer Olympus. On 14 October, British-born Michael Woodford was suddenly ousted as chief executive. He had been company president for si ...

* Options backdating involving over 100 companies *

Pacific Gas & Electric Company The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is an American investor-owned utility (IOU). The company is headquartered in the Pacific Gas & Electric Building, in San Francisco, California. PG&E provides natural gas and electricity to 5.2 millio ...

2017 California wildfires In terms of property damage, 2017 was the most destructive wildfire season on record in California at the time, surpassed by only the 2018 season and the 2020 season, with a total of 9,560 fires burning of land, according to the California Dep ...

2018 California wildfires The 2018 wildfire season was the deadliest and most destructive wildfire season in California history. It was also the largest on record at the time, now third after the 2020 and 2021 California wildfire seasons. In 2018, there were a total of ...

Panama Papers The Panama Papers ( es, Papeles de Panamá) are 11.5 million leaked documents (or 2.6 terabytes of data) that were published beginning on April 3, 2016. The papers detail financial and attorney–client information for more than 214,488 ...

International. Leak of hundreds of thousands of confidential documents pertaining to the bank accounts and companies held by politicians,

High-net-worth individual High-net-worth individual (HNWI) is a term used by some segments of the financial services industry to designate persons whose investible wealth (assets such as stocks and bonds) exceeds a given amount. Typically, these individuals are defined ...

s and other people, some in off-shore tax havens. The focus was Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca. * Paradise Papers leak * Peregrine Systems corporate executives convicted of accounting fraud * Phar-Mor company lied to shareholders. CEO eventually sentenced to prison for fraud and company eventually became bankrupt * Qwest Communications *

RadioShack RadioShack, formerly RadioShack Corporation, is an American retailer founded in 1921. At its peak in 1999, RadioShack operated over 8,000 worldwide stores named RadioShack or Tandy Electronics in the United States, Mexico, United Kingdom, Austra ...

CEO David Edmondson lied about attaining a B.A. degree from Pacific Coast Baptist College in California * Reliant Energy * Rite Aid accounting fraud * Royal Dutch Shell overstated its oil reserves twice, it downgraded , or about 20 percent of its total holdings. * S-Chips Scandals, Singapore * Satyam Computers, India *

7-Eleven 7-Eleven, Inc., stylized as 7-ELEVE, is a multinational chain of retail convenience stores, headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The chain was founded in 1927 as an ice house storefront in Dallas. It was named Tote'm Stores between 1928 and 1946. A ...

Australia. Allegations of bullying tactics, underpayment of wages and entitlements. *

Siemens Greek bribery scandal The Siemens bribery scandal in Greece is a corruption and bribery scandal in Greece over deals between Siemens and Greek government officials during the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece regarding security systems and purchases by OTE in ...

, involving cases of bribery on behalf of

Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad. The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', '' ...

towards the Greek Government * Société Générale, derivatives trading scandal causing multibillion-euro losses *

Southwest Airlines Southwest Airlines Co., typically referred to as Southwest, is one of the major airlines of the United States and the world's largest low-cost carrier. It is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and has scheduled service to 121 destinations in the U ...

, violations of safety regulations * SunTrust Banks, "claims of shoddy mortgage lending, servicing and foreclosure practices." * Tesla Inc, involving "420 funding secured" private buyout scheme resulting in fraud charges against CEO Elon Musk * Tyco International, executive theft and prison sentence * Union Carbide, the Bhopal disaster * ValuJet, loading live oxygen generators into cargo hold of passenger jet causing fatal crash *

Volkswagen emissions violations The Volkswagen emissions scandal, sometimes known as Dieselgate or Emissionsgate, began in September 2015, when the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a notice of violation of the Clean Air Act to German automaker Vol ...

, fraud in diesel motors pollution measurements *

David Wittig David Wittig (born July 29, 1955) is the former chief executive officer of Topeka, Kansas-based Westar Energy, a utility company. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Wittig became a Wall Street investment banker. In 1995, Wittig, having earned millio ...

"looting" scandals * Xerox alleged accounting irregularities involving auditor

KPMG KPMG International Limited (or simply KPMG) is a multinational professional services network, and one of the Big Four accounting organizations. Headquartered in Amstelveen, Netherlands, although incorporated in London, England, KPMG is a net ...

, causing restatement of financial results for the years 1997 through 2000 and fines for both companies

Notes

External links

33 biggest corporate implosions
{{Portal bar, Companies Corporate crime Political corruption Fraud

List of major corporate collapses

List of scandals without insolvency

See also

Notes

Further reading

External links