Intrnational Business

International Business Project

Ernst & Young

1.Description of the company

1.1. History and evolution

Ernst & Young is one of the largest firms in the world, offering an array of financial services including tax, transaction and advisory services. The company’s roots date back to the 19th century, when Arthur Young and Alwin C Ernst each founded an accounting firm. Arthur Young was born in Glasgow, Scotland but he moved to the US to pursue his career in accounting and in 1906 he formed an accounting firm, Arthur Young & Company, with his brother Stanley. Alwin C Ernst was born in Cleveland, USA. After leaving school he worked as a bookkeeper. Then, in 1903, he and his brother Theodore started Ernst & Ernst, a small public accounting firm. Both firms were also quick to enter the global marketplace. In 1924 Young allied with Broads Paterson & Co and Ernst with Whinney Smith & Whinney. These alliances were the first of many for both firms, which opened offices around the world to service their international clients. The company Ernst&Young was formed in 1989, when the third largest accounting firm at the time, Ernst & Whinney (based in Cleveland, Ohio), merged with the sixth largest firm, Arthur Young (headquartered in New York), forming what, at the time, was the world's largest accounting firm. The company is organized as a partnership rather than a corporation. Today, Ernst&Young is one of the “Big Four” accounting firms in the world, along with Deloitte, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Ernst & Young reportedly has in present 152,000 employees globally and global revenues of US$ 24.4 billion (2012). Its headquarters is in London, UK.

1.2. Field of activity

Ernst&Young provides global services in the following four main areas:

* Advisory – Performance Improvement, Risk, IT, Advisory for Financial Services;

* Assurance – Accounting Compliance and Reporting, Financial Accounting Advisory...