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PricewaterhouseCoopers (or PwC) is the world's largest professional services
Professional services

Professional services are infrequent, technical, or unique functions performed by independent contractors or consultants whose occupation is the rendering of such services....
 firm. It was formed in 1998 from a merger between Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand, both formed in London.

PricewaterhouseCoopers earned aggregated worldwide revenues of $28 billion for fiscal 2008, and employed over 146,000 people in 150 countries.

In the United States, where it is the third largest privately owned organization, it operates as PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Limited liability partnership

A limited liability partnership has elements of partnerships and corporations. It is a partnership in which all partners are limited partners. In an LLP one partner is not responsible or liable for another partner's misconduct or negligence....
.

PricewaterhouseCoopers is a Big Four auditor
Big Four auditors

The Big Four are the four largest international accountancy and professional services firms, which handle the vast majority of Financial audit for Public company as well as many Private company....
, alongside KPMG
KPMG

KPMG is one of the largest professional services firms in the world. KPMG employs over 136,500 people in a global network of professional services firms spanning over 140 countries....
, Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young

Ernst & Young is one of the largest professional services firms in the world and one of the Big Four auditors, along with PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and KPMG....
 and Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu is one of the largest professional services firms in the world and one of the Big Four auditors, along with PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young, and KPMG....
.

firm was created by the merger of two large firms Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand in 1998.






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Pwc London
Coaly
PricewaterhouseCoopers (or PwC) is the world's largest professional services
Professional services

Professional services are infrequent, technical, or unique functions performed by independent contractors or consultants whose occupation is the rendering of such services....
 firm. It was formed in 1998 from a merger between Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand, both formed in London.

PricewaterhouseCoopers earned aggregated worldwide revenues of $28 billion for fiscal 2008, and employed over 146,000 people in 150 countries.

In the United States, where it is the third largest privately owned organization, it operates as PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Limited liability partnership

A limited liability partnership has elements of partnerships and corporations. It is a partnership in which all partners are limited partners. In an LLP one partner is not responsible or liable for another partner's misconduct or negligence....
.

PricewaterhouseCoopers is a Big Four auditor
Big Four auditors

The Big Four are the four largest international accountancy and professional services firms, which handle the vast majority of Financial audit for Public company as well as many Private company....
, alongside KPMG
KPMG

KPMG is one of the largest professional services firms in the world. KPMG employs over 136,500 people in a global network of professional services firms spanning over 140 countries....
, Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young

Ernst & Young is one of the largest professional services firms in the world and one of the Big Four auditors, along with PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and KPMG....
 and Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu is one of the largest professional services firms in the world and one of the Big Four auditors, along with PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young, and KPMG....
.

History

The firm was created by the merger of two large firms Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand in 1998. These two firms each had histories dating back to the nineteenth century.

Price Waterhouse

Samuel Lowell Price
Samuel Lowell Price

Samuel Lowell Price was an England accountant. He is best known for having co-founded, with William Hopkins Holyland and Edwin Waterhouse, the accountancy practice of Price Waterhouse that now forms part of PricewaterhouseCoopers....
, an accountant
Accountant

An accountant is a practitioner of accountancy, which is the measurement, disclosure or provision of assurance about financial information that helps managers, investors, tax authorities and other decision makers make resource allocation decisions....
, started his practice in London in 1849. In 1865 Price went into partnership with William Hopkins Holyland
William Hopkins Holyland

William Hopkins Holyland was an England accountant. He is best known for having co-founded, with Samuel Lowell Price and Edwin Waterhouse, the accountancy practice of Price Waterhouse that now forms part of PriceWaterhouseCoopers....
 and Edwin Waterhouse
Edwin Waterhouse

Edwin Waterhouse was an England accountant. He is best known for having co-founded, with Samuel Lowell Price and William Hopkins Holyland, the accountancy practice of Price Waterhouse that now forms part of PriceWaterhouseCoopers....
. Holyland left shortly after to work alone in accountancy and the firm was known from 1874 as Price, Waterhouse & Co. (The '& Co' and comma was dropped from the name much later.) The original partnership agreement, signed by Price, Holyland and Waterhouse could be found in Southwark Towers
Southwark Towers

Southwark Towers was a mid rise building at 32 London Bridge Street near London Bridge station, in Southwark, London. It was 100 metres tall and had 25 floors and stood directly over London Bridge station....
, one of PwC's important legacy offices (now under demolition) in London.

By the late nineteenth century, Price Waterhouse had gained significant recognition as an accounting firm. As a result of trade between the United Kingdom and the United States of America, Price Waterhouse opened an office in New York
New York

The State of New York is a U.S. state in the Mid-Atlantic States and Northeastern United States regions of the United States and is the nation's List of U.S....
 in 1890, and the American firm itself soon expanded rapidly. The original British firm opened an office in Liverpool
Liverpool

Liverpool [] is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a History of borough status in England and Wales in 1207 and was granted City status in the United Kingdom in 1880....
 in 1904 and then elsewhere in the United Kingdom and countries abroad, each time establishing a separate partnership in each country: the worldwide practice of PW was therefore a federation of collaborating firms that had grown organically rather than being the result of an international merger.

In a further effort to take advantage of economies of scale
Economies of scale

Economies of scale, in microeconomics, are the cost advantages that a business obtains due to expansion. They are factors that cause a producer?s average cost per unit to fall as output rises....
, PW and Arthur Andersen
Arthur Andersen

Arthur Andersen LLP, based in Chicago, was once one of the Big Four auditors among PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Ernst & Young and KPMG, providing auditing, tax, and consulting services to large corporations....
 had discussed a merger in 1989 but the negotiations failed mainly because of conflicts of interest such as Andersen's strong commercial links with IBM
IBM

International Business Machines Corporation, abbreviated IBM and nicknamed "Big Blue" , is a multinational corporation computer technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, New York, United States....
 and PW's audit of IBM.

Coopers & Lybrand

In 1854 William Cooper
William Cooper (accountant)

William Cooper was an England accountant. He is best known for having founded the accountancy practice of Cooper Brothers that now forms part of PricewaterhouseCoopers....
 established his own practice in London, which became Cooper Brothers seven years later when his three brothers joined.

In the USA in 1898, Robert H. Montgomery, William M. Lybrand, Adam A. Ross Jr. and his brother T. Edward Ross formed Lybrand, Ross Brothers and Montgomery. Coopers & Lybrand is the result of a merger in 1957 between Cooper Brothers & Co; Lybrand, Ross Bros & Montgomery and a Canadian firm McDonald, Currie and Co. In 1990 in certain countries including the UK Coopers & Lybrand merged with Deloitte Haskins & Sells to become Coopers & Lybrand Deloitte, in 1992 renamed Coopers & Lybrand.

The merger

In 1998, Price Waterhouse merged with Coopers & Lybrand to form PricewaterhouseCoopers in an attempt to gain a scale that would put the new firm in a different league.

Recent history

By the late 1990's the firm had created a large professional consulting
Consulting

Consulting is providing advice in a particular area of expertise. This is not the same as customer service. Specific types of consulting include:...
 branch, as did other major accountancy firms, generating much of its fees. Management Consulting Services (MCS) was the fastest growing and often most profitable area of the practice, though it was cyclical. The major cause for growth in the Nineties was the implementation of complex integrated ERP
Enterprise resource planning

Enterprise resource planning is an enterprise-wide information system designed to coordinate all the resources, information, and activities needed to complete business processes such as order fulfillment or billing....
 systems such as SAP R/3
SAP R/3

SAP R/3 is the former name of the main enterprise resource planning software produced by SAP AG. It was renamed SAP ERP. It was later renamed Enterprise Central Component or ECC....
 for multi-national companies.

However, PwC came under increasing pressure to avoid conflicts of interests by not providing consulting services to its audit clients. Since it audited a large proportion of the world's largest companies, this was beginning to limit its potential market. These conflicts were going to increase when additional services such as the outsourcing
Outsourcing

Outsourcing is subcontracting a process, such as product design or manufacturing, to a third-party company. The decision to outsource is often made in the interest of lowering firm or making better use of time and energy costs, redirecting or conserving energy directed at the core competence of a particular business, or to make more efficient...
 of ERP systems were offered. For these reasons, in 2000, Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young

Ernst & Young is one of the largest professional services firms in the world and one of the Big Four auditors, along with PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and KPMG....
 was the first of the Big Four
Big Four auditors

The Big Four are the four largest international accountancy and professional services firms, which handle the vast majority of Financial audit for Public company as well as many Private company....
 to sell its consulting services, to Capgemini
Capgemini

Capgemini is a major France Corporation, one of the world's largest information technology, management consulting, outsourcing and professional services companies with a staff of over 91,000 operating in 36 countries....
.

PwC therefore planned to capitalize on MCS's rapid growth through its sale to Hewlett Packard (for a reported $17 billion) but negotiations broke down in 2000.

PwC announced in May 2002 that its consulting activities would be spun off as an independent entity. An outside consultancy, Wolff Olins
Wolff Olins

Wolff Olins is a brand consultancy, based in London, New York City and Dubai. It employs 180 people, a mix of designers, consultants and account managers, and since 2001 has been part of the marketing services group Omnicom Group....
, was hired to create a brand
Brand

A brand is a collection of symbols, experiences and associations connected with a product, a service, a person or any other artifact or entity....
 image for the new entity, called "Monday". The firm's CEO, Greg Brenneman
Greg Brenneman

Greg Brenneman is the Chairman of CCMP Capital, a private equity firm. Most recently, Brenneman had served as president and CEO of Quiznos Sub, a fast-food sandwich chain....
 described the unusual name as "a real word, concise, recognizable, global and the right fit for a company that works hard to deliver results." These plans were soon revised, however. In October 2002, PricewaterhouseCoopers sold the entire consultancy business to IBM for approximately $3.9 billion in cash and stock. PwC's consultancy business was absorbed into IBM Global Business Services, increasing the size and capabilities of IBM's growing consulting practice.

Global structure

Pwc Australia
The legal structure of a limited liability partnership is very different to that of a company
Corporation

A corporation is a legal entity separate from the persons that form it. It is a legal entity owned by individual stockholders. In British tradition it is the term designating a body corporate, where it can be either a corporation sole or a corporation aggregate ....
, and as such the global firm is in fact a collection of member firms, that are run autonomously in their respective jurisdiction
Jurisdiction

In law, jurisdiction is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility....
s. The senior partners of member firms sit on a global board of partner
Partnership

A partnership is a type of business entity in which partners share with each other the profits or losses of the business undertaking in which all have invested....
s and there is also an 'umbrella' organisation called PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited, a New York-based company which provides co-ordination. The current global CEO
Chief executive officer

A chief executive officer or chief executive is typically the highest-ranking Corporate title or Administration in charge of total management of a corporation, company, non-profit organization, or government agency, reporting to the board of directors....
 is Samuel DiPiazza
Samuel DiPiazza

Samuel A. DiPiazza, Jr., was appointed Chief executive officer of PricewaterhouseCoopers on January 1 2002. Before this he served as the chairman of the PricewaterhouseCoopers United States firm....
.

Services


Global

PricewaterhouseCoopers has three main service lines:
  • Assurance
    Financial audit

    A financial audit, or more accurately, an audit of financial statements, is the review of the financial statements of a company or any other Juristic person , resulting in the publication of an independent opinion on whether or not those financial statements are relevant, accurate, complete, and fairly presented....
    ,
  • Tax
    Tax law

    Tax law is the codified system of laws that describes government levies on economic transactions, commonly called taxes....
    , (international tax planning and compliance with local tax laws, human resourcing consulting transfer pricing
    Transfer pricing

    Transfer pricing refers to the pricing of contributions transferred within an organization. For example, goods from the production division may be sold to the marketing division, or goods from a parent company may be sold to a foreign subsidiary....
    )
  • Advisory - mainly consulting activities which covers Strategy, Performance Improvement, Transactions Services, Business Recovery Services, M&A and Crisis Management in a range of specialist areas such as accountancy and actuarial
    Actuarial science

    Actuarial science is the discipline that applies mathematics and statistics methods to Risk assessment in the insurance and finance industries. Actuary are professionals who are qualified in this field through education and experience....
     advisory.


PwC's service lines face the market in each country by broad industry specializations such as:
  • Consumer and Industrial Products and Service (CIPS),
  • Financial Services
    Financial services

    Financial services refer to Service provided by the finance industry. The finance industry encompasses a broad range of organizations that deal with the management of money....
     (FS),
  • Technology, Information, Communications and Entertainment (TICE),
  • Infrastructure, Government and Utilities (IG&U)
These sub-divisions may vary slightly in some territories.

Consulting activities

PwC has developed several broader consulting initiatives in the Enterprise Risk Management
Enterprise Risk Management

Enterprise risk management in business includes the methods and processes used by organizations to manage risks and seize opportunities related to the achievement of their objectives....
 (ERM) framework, including a global effort to assist corporations with outsourcing, as well as a global political risk assessment with the political risk advisory firm Eurasia Group
Eurasia Group

Eurasia Group is a global political risk consultancy, founded in 1998....
.

Advisory services offered by PwC also include two actuarial
Actuary

An actuary is a business professional who deals with the financial impact of risk and uncertainty. Actuaries have a deep understanding of financial security systems, their reasons for being, their complexity, their mathematics, and the way they work ....
 consultancy departments; Actuarial and Insurance Management Solutions (AIMS) and a sub branch of "Human Resource Services" (HRS). Actuarial covers mainly 4 areas: pensions, life insurance
Life insurance

Life insurance or life assurance is a contract between the policy owner and the insurance, where the insurer agrees to pay a sum of money upon the occurrence of the insured individual's or individuals' death or other event, such as terminal illness or critical illness....
, non-life insurance
Casualty insurance

Casualty insurance is a problematically defined term loosely used to describe an area of insurance not particularly or directly concerned with life insurance, health insurance, or property insurance....
 and investments. AIMS deals with life and non-life insurance and investments while HRS deals mainly with pensions.

PwC serves the U.S. Federal Government through their Washington Federal Practice (WFP). PwC has over 2000 professionals based in the Washington Metro Corridor.

PwC Japan's Assurance (Audit) Service

Kasumigaseki Building
The member firm and a network firm provided auditing services in Japan. Misuzu dissolved in July, 2007.

From 2000 to 2006, PwC's affiliate of assurance service in Japan was . In May 2006, the Financial Services Agency suspended ChuoAoyama following a suspicious audit of cosmetics company Kanebo in which three of the firm's partners allegedly assisted with accounting fraud and boosted earnings for the company by about $1.9 billion over the course of five years. The accountants involved were reprimanded by the Tokyo District Court but escaped prison time after a judge deemed them to have played a "passive role" in the crime.

Shortly after the suspension of ChuoAoyama, PwC acted quickly to stem any possible client attrition as a result of the scandal. It set up the PricewaterhouseCoopers Aarata, and some of ChuoAoyama's accountants (but most of the international divisions) moved to the new firm. ChuoAoyama resumed operations on September 1 under the Misuzu name. However, by this point the two firms combined had 30% fewer clients than did ChuoAoyama prior to its suspension.

Major clients

Europe and North America account for about 81% of PwC's annual revenue, with Europe alone accounting for 45%. The firm's dominant practice is auditing which accounts for over 50% of PwC's revenue.

As of March 2005, PricewaterhouseCoopers' audit clients included four of the 10 largest public companies in the United States (ExxonMobil
ExxonMobil

The Exxon Mobil Corporation, or ExxonMobil, is an United States petroleum and natural gas corporation. It is a direct descendant of John D....
, Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company

The Ford Motor Company is an United States multinational corporation and the world's List of automobile manufacturers#World Motor Vehicle Production by Manufacturer based on worldwide vehicle sales, following Toyota, General Motors, and Volkswagen Group....
, ChevronTexaco and IBM
IBM

International Business Machines Corporation, abbreviated IBM and nicknamed "Big Blue" , is a multinational corporation computer technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, New York, United States....
). PwC also audits four of the 10 largest companies in the United Kingdom (GlaxoSmithKline
GlaxoSmithKline

GlaxoSmithKline plc is a United Kingdom-based pharmaceutical industry, biological, and healthcare company. GSK is the world's second largest pharmaceutical company and a research-based company with a wide portfolio of pharmaceutical products covering anti-infectives, central nervous system, respiratory, gastro-intestinal/metabolic,...
, Royal Dutch Shell
Royal Dutch Shell

Royal Dutch Shell public limited company, commonly known simply as Shell, is a multinational corporation oil company of Netherlands and United Kingdom origins....
, Barclays and Lloyds TSB
Lloyds TSB

In January 2009, Lloyds TSB Group changed its name to Lloyds Banking Group. This article is now about the brand Lloyds TSB which is still operated as part of the Lloyds Banking Group....
).

One client, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures....
, gives PwC the unique distinction of having been (in various incarnations) the tabulator and certifier of votes for the Academy Awards
Academy Awards

The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers....
 since 1934.

PwC audits 40 per cent of companies in the FTSE 100 Index
FTSE 100 Index

The FTSE 100 Index is a share index of the 100 most highly market capitalisation UK company listed on the London Stock Exchange. The index began on 3 January 1984 with a base level of 1000; the highest value reached to date is 6950.6, on 30 December 1999....
 and 45 per cent of the Fortune 1000
Fortune 1000

Fortune 1000 is a reference to a list maintained by the American business magazine Fortune . The list is of the 1000 largest American companies, ranked on revenues alone....
 energy companies.

The following are PwC audit clients that are part of the FT Global 500 (2006), grouped by FT industry:

Aerospace & defence: Raytheon
Raytheon

Raytheon Company is a major United States defense contractor and industrial corporation with core manufacturing concentrations in defense systems and defense and commercial electronics....
, United Technologies, L-3 Communications Corporation
Automobiles & parts: Goodyear
Goodyear

Goodyear may relate to:* Charles Goodyear , inventor of vulcanized rubber* Gary Goodyear, Canadian politician* Julie Goodyear, British television actress...
,Toyota Motor, Volkswagen
Volkswagen

Volkswagen Passenger Cars, also known as VW, is an automobile manufacturer based in Wolfsburg, Germany and is the original as well as the largest brand by sales volume within the Volkswagen Group....
, Peugeot
Peugeot

Peugeot is a major France automobile brand, part of PSA Peugeot Citro?n. Its parent company PSA Peugeot Citro?n is the second largest carmaker in Europe, behind Volkswagen....
, Robert Bosch GmbH
Robert Bosch GmbH

Robert Bosch Gesellschaft mit beschr?nkter Haftung is a German diversified technology-based corporation which was started in 1886 by Robert Bosch in Stuttgart, Germany....
, Ford
Banks: Afghanistan International Bank
Afghanistan International Bank

Afghanistan International Bank is a local commercial bank in Afghanistan, with its head office in Kabul. The bank has seven branch offices in the major cities of the country....
, Askari Bank, Bank of AJK, Al Rahji Banking & Investment, Bank of America
Bank of America

Bank of America Corporation , based in Charlotte, North Carolina, is the largest financial services company in the world, largest bank by assets, second largest commercial bank by deposits, and third largest by market capitalization in the United States....
, Bank of China (Hong Kong)
Bank of China

company_name = Bank of China Limited|company_logo = |company_type = Public company , |company_slogan =|foundation = 1912 in Republic of China...
, Bank of Ireland
Bank of Ireland

The Bank of Ireland is a commercial bank operation in Ireland, which is one of the 'Big Four ' in both parts of the island.Historically the premier banking organisation in Ireland, today Bank of Ireland is number two to Allied Irish Banks....
, Banco Itau
Banco Itaú

Banco Ita? is a publicly quoted bank with headquarters in S?o Paulo, Brazil. Ita? is currently merging with Unibanco of Brazil to form Ita? Unibanco Holding S.A, which will be the largest financial conglomerate in the Southern Hemisphere and one of the 20 largest in the world....
, Banco Popular Español
Banco Popular Español

Banco Popular Espa?ol, is the third largest banking group in Spain. The group consists of the following companies:*A national bank: Banco Popular Espa?ol...
, Barclays, Crédit Agricole
Crédit Agricole

Cr?dit Agricole SA is the largest retail bank in France, second largest in Europe and the eighth largest in the world by Tier 1 capital according to The Banker magazine....
, BB&T
BB&T

The BB&T Corporation is one of America's largest banks, offering full-service commercial and retail banking services along with other financial services like insurance, investments, retail brokerage, mortgage, corporate finance, consumer finance, payment services, international banking, leasing and trust....
, BNP Paribas
BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas is one of the main banks in Europe. It was created on 23 May 2000 through the merger of Banque Nationale de Paris and Paribas....
, Banco Bradesco
Banco Bradesco

Banco Bradesco, short for Banco Brasileiro de Descontos, that is 'Brazilian Discount Bank', is one of the Big Four banks in Brazil, the others being Banco do Brasil, Banco Ita? and Unibanco....
, Commerzbank
Commerzbank

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft is the second-largest bank in Germany, after Deutsche Bank, headquartered in Frankfurt.Commerzbank is mainly active in commercial banking, retail banking and mortgaging....
, Dexia
Dexia

Dexia is a Belgium-France financial institution, also referred to as the Dexia Group, specializing in public finance. It was founded in 1996 through the merger of Cr?dit Communal de Belgique/Gemeentekrediet van Belgi? and Cr?dit Local de France ....
, DnB NOR
DnB NOR

DnB NOR ASA is Norway's largest financial services group with total assets of more than Norwegian krone 1.8 trillion. The Group includes brands such as DnB NOR, Vital Forsikring, Nordlandsbanken, Cresco , Postbanken, DnB NORD and Carlson ....
, Firstrand Bank Limited, Fortis
Fortis

Fortis may refer to:*Fortis , a linguistic term*Fortis , a financial services company, based in Belgium and the Netherlands*Fortis Healthcare Limited, a chain of hospitals based in India...
, Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., or simply Goldman Sachs , is a bank holding company that engages in investment banking, Security services, and investment management....
, JP Morgan Chase, Lloyds TSB
Lloyds TSB

In January 2009, Lloyds TSB Group changed its name to Lloyds Banking Group. This article is now about the brand Lloyds TSB which is still operated as part of the Lloyds Banking Group....
, Macquarie Bank
Macquarie Bank

----Macquarie Group Limited is a global investment banking and diversified financial services group, providing banking, financial, advisory and investment services to investors, corporations and governments....
, Riyad Bank, Sanpaolo IMI
Sanpaolo IMI

The Gruppo Sanpaolo IMI was one of Italy's major bank and insurance groups, based in Turin. It employed about 44,000 people and had about 7 million customers....
, Sberbank (Russia)
Sberbank

Sberbank Rossii is the largest bank in Russia and Eastern Europe. Its headquarters are in Moscow and its history goes back to Georg von Cancrin's financial reform of 1841....
, SEB
Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB is a North-European financial group for corporate customers, institutions and private individuals. Its activities comprise mainly banking services, but SEB also carries out significant life insurance operations....
, Standard Bank, Westpac Banking Corporation
Beverages: Anheuser-Busch
Anheuser-Busch

Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. is the largest brewing company in the United States and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev. It holds a 48.8% share of beer sales by volume in the United States....
, Miller, SAB
South African Breweries

South African Breweries was founded in 1895 by Jacob Letterstedt specifically to serve a new market of miners and prospectors in and around Johannesburg....

Chemicals: Albemarle
Albemarle

Albemarle may refer to:...
, Bayer
Bayer

Bayer Aktiengesellschaft is a Germany chemical industry and pharmaceutical company founded in Barmen, Germany in 1863. Today it is headquartered in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany....
, E.I. du Pont de Nemours
DuPont

E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company is an United States chemical industry that was founded in July 1802 as a gunpowder mill by Eleuth?re Ir?n?e du Pont....
, Praxair
Praxair

Praxair, Inc. is the largest industrial gases company in North and South America and one of the largest worldwide. The company supplies atmospheric, process and specialty gases as well as high-performance coatings and related services to a wide diversity of customers around the world....
, Shin Etsu Chemical, Rohm & Haas
Electricity: RAO UES, Chubu Electric Power, FirstEnergy
FirstEnergy

File:FirstEnergyChaseAkronOhio.JPGFirstEnergy Corp. , is a diversified energy company headquartered in Akron, Ohio. Its subsidiaries and affiliates are involved in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity, as well as energy management and other energy-related services....
, Exelon
Exelon

Exelon Corporation is an electricity generating and distributing company headquartered in Chicago. It was created in October, 2000 by the merger of PECO Energy Company and Unicom, of Philadelphia and Chicago respectively....
, Unified Energy System
Unified Energy System

The Unified Energy System was an electric power holding company in Russia. It owned about 70% of Russia's installed electric capacity, 96% of high-voltage grid and over 70% of transmission lines....
, ATCO
ATCO

ATCO Ltd. is an Alberta based corporation with more than 7,000 employees operating across three main business divisions: Power Generation; Utilities and Global Enterprises, with companies active in industrial manufacturing, technology, logistics and energy services....
, AMEREN
Ameren

Ameren Corporation was created December 31, 1997 by the merger of Missouri's Union Electric Company and the neighboring Central Illinois Public Service Company ....

Electronic & electrical equipment: Agilent Technologies
Agilent Technologies

Agilent Technologies , or Agilent, is a company which designs and manufactures instruments and equipment for measurement and evaluation. The company's headquarters are in Santa Clara, California, California....
, Kyocera
Kyocera

is a Japanese company based in Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan. The company was founded as in 1959 by Kazuo Inamori. It manufactures ceramics and printing-related devices, as well as a comprehensive line of imaging products....
, LG Philips LCD, Logitech
Logitech

Logitech International S.A. , headquartered in Romanel-sur-Morges, Switzerland, is the holding company for Logitech Group, a Swiss peripheral-device maker....

Fixed line telecommunications: BellSouth
BellSouth

BellSouth Corporation is an United States telecommunications holding company based in Atlanta, Georgia. BellSouth was one of the seven original Regional Bell operating company after the United States Department of Justice forced the American Telephone & Telegraph Company to divest itself of its regional telephone companies on January 1, 1984....
, BT Group
BT Group

BT Group plc , is the privatisation UK state telecommunications operator. It is the dominant fixed line telecommunications and broadband Internet provider in the United Kingdom....
, Etisalat
Etisalat

Etisalat is a UAE-based telecommunications services provider, currently operating in 17 countries across Asia, the Middle East and Africa.The telecom's customer base is claimed to reach 74 million customers, with a total operating area population span close to 1.6 billion people....
, KPN
KPN

KPN is a Netherlands fixed-line and mobile telecommunications company, including both 2G and 3G mobile operations. The company is based in The Hague....
, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone, PT. Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk., Saudi Telecom, GrameenPhone - Bangladesh
Food & drug retailers: Krispy Kreme
Krispy Kreme

Krispy Kreme is a chain of doughnut stores. Its parent company is Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc. , based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States....
, Seven & I Holdings Co.
Seven & I Holdings Co.

is a diversified retail group headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. Founded originally in 1920 as Ito Yokado, Seven & I is now the fifth largest retailer in the world, with 35,000 stores in approximately 100 countries....
, Tesco
Tesco

Tesco Public limited company is a British-based international grocery and general merchandising retail chain. It is the largest British retailer by both global sales and domestic market share with profits exceeding ?2 billion....

Food producers: Danone, Kellogg's, Kraft Foods
Kraft Foods

Kraft Foods, Inc. is the second-largest food and beverage company headquartered in the United States and the third largest in the world .The Philip Morris Company , acquired Kraft for $12.9 billion in 1988, eventually merging it with another food subsidiary, General Foods, which it had acquired in 1985....
, Unilever
Unilever

Unilever is a multi-national corporation, formed of United Kingdom-Netherlands parentage that owns many of the world's consumer product brand names in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products....

Gas, water & multiutilities: Centrica
Centrica

Centrica plc is a large multinational utility company, based in the United Kingdom but also with interests in North America and Europe. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index....
, E.ON
E.ON

E.ON AG , an energy industry corporation based in D?sseldorf, Germany, is one of the 30 members of the DAX stock index of major German companies and a member of the "Global Titans 50" index....
, RWE
RWE

RWE Aktiengesellschaft , is a German electric power and natural gas public utility company based in Essen, Germany. Through its various subsidiaries, the energy company contributes electricity and gas to more than 20 million electricity customers and 10 million gas customers, principally in Europe....
, National Grid plc
National Grid plc

National Grid plc is an international, London-based utilities company which also operates in other countries, principally its wholly owned subsidiary in the United States....

General financial: American Express
American Express

American Express Company , sometimes known as "AmEx" or "Amex", is a Diversification global financial services company that is headquartered in New York City, New York....
, Freddie Mac, Franklin Resources, Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., or simply Goldman Sachs , is a bank holding company that engages in investment banking, Security services, and investment management....
, Nikko Cordial
Nikko Cordial

is a major Japanese Stock broker firm and is the holding company for Nikko Cordial Securities and other subsidiaries. Nikko Cordial is owned by financial services giant Citigroup....
, SLM
SLM

SLM may stand for:*S-L-M, the tri-consonantal root of many Semitic words, such as shalom and salam*SLM Corporation, or Sallie Mae, an American student loan company...

General industrials: 3M
3M

3M Company , formerly Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company until 2002, is an United States multinational corporation Conglomerate corporation with a worldwide presence....
, Honeywell International, Hutchison Whampoa
Hutchison Whampoa

Hutchison Whampoa Limited or HWL of Hong Kong is a Fortune 500 company and one of the largest companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange....

General retailers: eBay
EBay

eBay Inc. is an United States Internet company that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell goods and services worldwide....
, GUS
GUS (retailer)

GUS plc was a FTSE 100 retailing group based in the United Kingdom. GUS is an abbreviation of Great Universal Stores, the company's former name before 2001....
, Marks & Spencer
Marks & Spencer

Marks & Spencer is a major United Kingdom retailer, with over 840 stores in Marks & Spencer#International stores around the world, over 600 domestic and 285 international....
, John Lewis Partnership
John Lewis Partnership

The John Lewis Partnership is a major United Kingdom retailer which operates John Lewis department stores, Waitrose supermarkets and the direct services company Greenbee....

Healthcare equipment & services: Baxter International
Baxter International

Baxter International Inc. , is a global healthcare company with 48,000 employees and 2006 sales of US$10.4 billion. Its headquarters is in Deerfield, Illinois....
, HealthSouth Corporation, Medco Health Solutions
Medco Health Solutions

Medco Health Solutions, Inc. is a leading pharmacy benefit manager company based in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey. The current chairman is David Snow....
, Medtronic
Medtronic

Medtronic, Inc. , based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is the world's largest medical technology company . Listed among Fortune 500 companies, Medtronic is a publicly traded company and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol MDT....
, Zimmer Holdings
Zimmer Holdings

Zimmer Holdings Inc. Founded in 1927 and headquartered in Warsaw, Indiana, Zimmer designs, develops, manufactures and markets orthopaedic reconstructive, spinal and trauma devices, dental implants, and related orthopaedic surgical products....
, Southern Cross Healthcare
Household goods: Reckitt Benckiser
Reckitt Benckiser

Reckitt Benckiser plc is a leading United Kingdom-based manufacturer of cleaning products. It is headquartered in the town of Slough to the west of London....

Industrial engineering: Caterpillar Inc.
Caterpillar Inc.

Caterpillar Inc. is a United States-based corporation headquartered in Peoria, Illinois. Caterpillar is, according to their corporate website, "the world's largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, and industrial gas turbines."...
, Volvo
Volvo

The Volvo Group is a Sweden supplier of commercial vehicles such as trucks, buses and construction equipment, drive systems for marine and industrial applications, aerospace components and financial services....

Industrial metals: Alcan
Alcan

Rio Tinto Alcan Inc. became the world's largest Aluminium corporation when Rio Tinto Group Canadian subsidiary, Rio Tinto Canada Holding Inc., completed a friendly acquisition of Canadian company Alcan Inc....
, Alcoa
Alcoa

Alcoa, Inc. is the world's third largest producer of aluminum, behind Rio Tinto Alcan and Rusal. From its operational headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Alcoa conducts operations in 44 countries....
, Nippon Steel
Nippon Steel

, also referred to as , was formed in 1970. Nippon Steel Corporation is the world's second-largest List of steel producers in volume and the second most profitable steel company in the world....
, Nucor
Nucor

Nucor Corporation is one of the largest List of steel producers in the United States, and the largest of the "mini-mill" operators . Nucor claims to be North America's largest recycler of any material, recycling one ton of steel every two seconds....
, POSCO
POSCO

The Pohang Iron and Steel Company, or POSCO , based in Pohang, South Korea, is the world's second largest steel maker.Currently, POSCO operates two steel mills in the country, one in Pohang and the other in Gwangyang....
, Tenaris
Tenaris

Tenaris , ) is a company that is a global manufacturer and supplier of seamless and welded steel pipe products and provider of pipe handling, stocking and distribution services to the oil and gas, energy and mechanical industries....

Industrial transportation: Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp.
Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp.

Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation is the parent company of the BNSF Railway .The corporation was incorporated in 1993 to facilitate the merger of Burlington Northern, Incorporated, parent of the Burlington Northern Railroad, and Santa Fe Pacific Corporation, which owned the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway ....
, Deutsche Post
Deutsche Post

Deutsche Post Aktiengesellschaft , operating under the trade name Deutsche Post World Net, is the world's largest logistics group. With its headquarters in Bonn, the corporation has 470,000 employees in more than 220 countries and territories worldwide and generated revenue of ? 63.5 billion in 2007....

Insurance: Ace
Ace

The word "ace" comes from the Old French word 'as' meaning 'a unit', from the name of a small Ancient Rome coin. It originally meant the side of a dice with only one mark, before it was a term for a playing card....
, American International Group
American International Group

American International Group, Inc. is a major United States of America insurance corporation based at the American International Building in New York City....
, AMB Generali
AMB Generali

AMB Generali Holding AG is a Germany holding company consisting of about 20 insurance company. It is the second largest insurance company in Germany after Allianz....
, AXA
AXA

AXA is a France global insurance company group headquartered in Paris. AXA is not the name of a single company but a group of companies independently organized and operated according to the regulations of many different countries....
, Legal & General
Legal & General

Legal & General Group Plc is a United Kingdom based financial services company that provides life insurance, health insurance and other insurance, as well as pensions and investments....
, Millea Holdings
Millea Holdings

File:Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurancea.jpg, formerly known as Millea Holdings until 2008, is a multinational insurance holding company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan....
, Progressive Corporation
Progressive Corporation

The Progressive Corporation , Progressive Casualty Insurance Company, through its subsidiaries, provides personal automobile insurance, and other specialty property-casualty insurance and related services in the United States....
, Protective Life Corporation, Prudential Financial
Prudential Financial

Prudential Financial, Inc. is a Fortune Global 500 and Fortune 500 company whose subsidiaries provide insurance, investment management, and other financial products and services to both retail and institutional customers throughout the United States and in over 30 other countries....
, Standard Life
Standard Life

Standard Life plc is a financial services institution based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Formerly a Mutual insurance, since 10 July 2006, the company has been listed on the London Stock Exchange....
, Swiss Re
Swiss Re

Swiss Re is the world?s second largest reinsurance, after having acquired GE Insurance Solutions . Founded in 1863, Swiss Re operates through offices in more than 25 countries....
, Zurich Financial Services
Zurich Financial Services

Zurich Financial Services Group is a major financial services group based in Z?rich, Switzerland....
 
Leisure goods: Nintendo
Nintendo

is a global company located in Kyoto, Japan founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi to produce handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
 
Media: CBS
CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is an American radio network and television network. The name is derived from the initials of Columbia Broadcasting System, its former legal name....
, Thomson
Thomson

Thomson may refer to:...
, Viacom
Viacom

Viacom , short for "Video & Audio Communications", is an United States media conglomerate with various worldwide interests in cable television and satellite television networks , and movie production and distribution ....
, Walt Disney
Walt Disney

Walter Elias Disney was a multiple Academy Award-winning American film producer, film director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur and philanthropist....
, Pearson
Pearson PLC

Pearson plc is a London-based education and mass media Conglomerate . It is the largest book publisher in the United Kingdom, India, Australia and New Zealand, and the second largest in the United States and Canada....

Mining: Barrick Gold
Barrick Gold

Barrick Gold Corporation is the largest pure gold mining company in the world, with its headquarters in Toronto, Ontario, Canada; and four regional business units located in Australia, Africa, North America and South America....
, Newmont Mining
Newmont Mining

Newmont Mining Corporation , based in Denver, Colorado, United States, is one of the world's largest producers of gold, with active mines in, Nevada, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Ghana, and Peru....
, Rio Tinto
Rio Tinto

Rio Tinto may refer to:*Rio Tinto Group, a multinational mining company** Rio Tinto Alcan, the mining company's aluminum division** Rio Tinto Stadium, a football stadium in Sandy, Utah, USA sponsored by the above company...

Mobile telecommunications: Alltel
Alltel

Alltel Corporation was, until its acquisition by Verizon Wireless, the fifth largest wireless telecommunications company in the United States with 14.7 million customers, as of the third quarter 2008, after AT&T Mobility, Verizon Wireless, Sprint-Nextel, and T-Mobile USA....
, KDDI
KDDI

is a Japanese telecommunications operator formed in October 2000 through the merger of DDI Corp., KDD Corp., and IDO Corp.KDDI provides mobile cellular services using both the "au " brand....
, MTN Group, Sonera, Telia
Telia

Telia may refer to:*Telia, Nepal*TeliaSonera...
, China Unicom
China Unicom

China Unicom or China United Netcom Ltd , , is a telecommunication operator in the People's Republic of China. It is 40.92% of the company is effectively held by the China Unicom Limited and 29.49% by China Netcom Group Limited , while the remainder is traded on the Shanghai, Hong Kong and the New York stock exchanges....
,
Oil & gas producers: BG
British Gas plc

British Gas plc was formerly the monopoly gas supplier in the United Kingdom....
, Burlington Resources
Burlington Resources

Burlington Resources, was an USA oil and gasoline company. Their headquarters were in Houston, Texas, Texas. The company was acquired by ConocoPhillips in 2006....
, Canadian Natural Resources Limited
Canadian Natural Resources Limited

Canadian Natural Resources Limited is an Petroleum and natural gas exploration, development and production company based in Calgary, Alberta....
, Exxon Mobil, Chevron
Chevron Corporation

Chevron Corporation is the world's fourth largest non-government energy corporation. Headquartered in San Ramon, California, United States, and active in more than 180 countries, it is engaged in every aspect of the Petroleum and gas industry, including exploration and Petroleum#Extraction; refining, marketing and transport; chemicals m...
, EnCana Corporation
EnCana Corporation

EnCana Corporation a large petroleum and natural gas company. Its name is a portmanteau of the words "Energy", "Canada" and "Alberta". The company was formed in 2002 with the merger of PanCanadian Energy and Alberta Energy Company, and is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta....
, Eni
ENI

ENI may refer to:* Eni, the Italian oil and gas corporation ENI S.p.A.* Escuela Nacional de Inteligencia, an Argentine intelligence academy* El Nido Airport, an airport in the Philippines with IATA code ENI...
, Gazprom
Gazprom

OAO Gazprom is the largest extractor of natural gas in the world and the largest Economy of Russia.Total gas production in Russia in 2007 was 23.1 Trillion cubic feet, of which 85 percent was produced by Gazprom; with reserves of , it controls 16 percent of the List of countries by natural gas proven reserves ....
, Imperial Oil
Imperial Oil

Imperial Oil Limited is Canada's largest petroleum company. The company is engaged in the exploration, production and sale of crude oil and natural gas....
, Suncor Energy
Suncor Energy

Suncor Energy Inc. is Canada's original oil sands developer, having produced the first barrel of crude oil from the Athabasca oil sands in northern Alberta in 1967....
, Marathon Oil
Marathon Oil

Marathon Oil Corporation , based in Houston, Texas, is a worldwide oil and natural gas exploration and production company. Principal exploration activities are in the United States, Norway, Equatorial Guinea, Angola and Canada....
, Royal Dutch Shell
Royal Dutch Shell

Royal Dutch Shell public limited company, commonly known simply as Shell, is a multinational corporation oil company of Netherlands and United Kingdom origins....
, Shell Canada
Shell Canada

Shell Canada Limited is the subsidiary of Europe-based Royal Dutch Shell and one of Canada's largest integrated oil companies. Exploration and upstream of petroleum, natural gas and sulphur is a major part of its business, as well as the downstream of gasoline and related Product through the company's approximately 1,800 stations acr...
, Stuart Petroleum
Oil equipment & services: Schlumberger
Schlumberger

Schlumberger Limited is the world's largest oilfield services corporation operating in approximately 80 countries, with about 87,010 people of 140 nationalities....

Personal goods: Colgate-Palmolive
Colgate-Palmolive

Colgate-Palmolive Company is an United States diversified multinational corporation focused on the production, distribution and provision of household, health care and personal products, such as soaps, detergents, and oral hygiene products ....
, L'Oréal
L'Oréal

The L'Or?al Group is the world's largest cosmetics and beauty company and is headquartered in the Paris suburb of Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine, France....
, Nike
Nike, Inc.

Nike, Inc. is a major Public company sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, near the Portland metropolitan area of Oregon....
, Richemont
Richemont

Compagnie Financi?re Richemont SA is a Switzerland luxury goods company that was founded in 1988 by the late South African billionaire businessman, Anton Rupert....

Pharmaceuticals & biotechnology: Bayer
Bayer

Bayer Aktiengesellschaft is a Germany chemical industry and pharmaceutical company founded in Barmen, Germany in 1863. Today it is headquartered in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany....
, Biogen Idec
Biogen Idec

Biogen Idec, Inc. is a biotechnology company specializing in drugs for neurology, autoimmune disorders and cancer. The company was formed in 2003 by the merger of Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Biogen and San Diego, California-based Idec Pharmaceuticals ....
, Bristol-Myers-Squibb, Genzyme
Genzyme

Genzyme Corporation is a biotechnology company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Genzyme is the world?s third largest biotechnology company employing over 9,000 people around the world....
, GlaxoSmithKline
GlaxoSmithKline

GlaxoSmithKline plc is a United Kingdom-based pharmaceutical industry, biological, and healthcare company. GSK is the world's second largest pharmaceutical company and a research-based company with a wide portfolio of pharmaceutical products covering anti-infectives, central nervous system, respiratory, gastro-intestinal/metabolic,...
, Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson is a global United States pharmaceutical, medical devices and consumer packaged goods manufacturer founded in 1886. Its common stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the company is listed among the Fortune 500....
, Merck & Co.
Merck & Co.

Merck & Co., Inc. , also known as Merck Sharp & Dohme or MSD outside the USA and Canada, is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world....
, Novartis
Novartis

Novartis International AG is a multinational corporation pharmaceutical company based in Basel, Switzerland that manufactures drugs such as clozapine , diclofenac , carbamazepine , valsartan , imatinib mesylate , ciclosporin , letrozole , methylphenidate , terbinafine , and others....
, Novo Nordisk
Novo Nordisk

Novo Nordisk manufactures and markets pharmaceutical products and services. Created in 1989 through a merger of two Danish companies dating back to the 1920s, it has become one of the world's leading companies in diabetes care, where Novo Nordisk pursues research into pulmonary delivery systems; other companies, such as Medtronic, have expan...
, Sanofi-Aventis
Sanofi-Aventis

Sanofi-Aventis , headquartered in Paris, France, is a multinational pharmaceutical company. The company is the world's fourth largest List of pharmaceutical companies....
, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. , is an international pharmaceutical company headquartered in Petah Tikva, Israel. It specializes in generic drug and proprietary pharmaceuticals and active pharmaceutical ingredients....
, Wyeth
Wyeth

Wyeth, formerly known as American Home Products , is one of the largest pharmaceutical company in the world. The company is based in Madison, New Jersey....

Retail: Abercrombie & Fitch
Abercrombie & Fitch

Abercrombie & Fitch is an United States clothing retailer encompassing five brands: The namesake flagship Abercrombie & Fitch, abercrombie kids, Hollister Co., RUEHL No.925 , and Gilly Hicks....

Software & computer services: IBM
IBM

International Business Machines Corporation, abbreviated IBM and nicknamed "Big Blue" , is a multinational corporation computer technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, New York, United States....
, Yahoo!
Yahoo!

Yahoo! Inc. is an United States public company corporation with headquarters in Sunnyvale, California, , and provides Internet services worldwide....
, Satyam
Sports: Laureus World Sports Awards
Laureus World Sports Awards

The Laureus World Sports Awards are awarded annually to sportspeople who have been outstanding during the previous year. The Laureus World Sports Awards were established in 1999 by Founding Patrons Daimler and Richemont and is supported by its Global Partners Mercedes-Benz, IWC Schaffhausen and Vodafone....

Technology hardware & equipment: Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems

Cisco Systems, Inc. is a multinational corporation with more than 66,000 employees and annual revenue of United States dollar39 billion as of 2008....
, Corning Inc.
Corning Inc.

Corning Incorporated is an American manufacturer of glass, ceramics and related materials, primarily for industrial and scientific applications....
, Dell
Dell

Dell, Inc. is a multinational corporation technology corporation that develops, manufactures, sells, and supports personal computers and other computer-related products....
, EMC Corporation
EMC Corporation

EMC Corporation is a United States Fortune 500 and S&P 500 provider of information infrastructure systems, software and services. It is headquartered in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, USA....
, Ericsson
Ericsson

Ericsson , one of the largest Sweden companies, is a leading provider of telecommunication and data communication systems, and related services covering a range of technologies, including especially mobile networks....
, Hon Hai Precision Industry, Nokia
Nokia

Nokia Corporation is a Finland Multinational corporation communications corporation, headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki....
, Qualcomm
Qualcomm

Qualcomm is a wireless telecommunications research and development company based in San Diego, California, California.Corporate history...
, Samsung Electronics
Samsung Electronics

Samsung Electronics is the world's largest electronics company, headquartered in Seocho Samsung Town in Seoul, South Korea. It is the largest South Korean company and the flagship subsidiary of the Samsung Group....
, STMicroelectronics
STMicroelectronics

STMicroelectronics is an Italy-France electronics and semiconductor manufacturer headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.While STMicroelectronics corporate headquarters and the headquarters for Europe and emerging markets, are based in Geneva, the holding company, STMicroelectronics N.V....

Tobacco: Altria, British American Tobacco
British American Tobacco

British American Tobacco Plc is a leading global tobacco company. It is based in London, United Kingdom and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index....
, Imperial Tobacco
Imperial Tobacco

Imperial Tobacco Group Public limited company is the world's fourth largest international tobacco company. It is the second largest UK-based tobacco company by global sales....
, ITC
ITC Ltd.

ITC Limited which previously stood for Imperial Tobacco Company of India Limited, is an Indian conglomerate with a revenue of US $ 4.75 billion....
, Philip Morris International
Philip Morris International

Philip Morris International is an international tobacco company, with products sold in over 160 countries. In 2007, it held a 15.6% share of the international cigarette market outside of the USA and reported revenues net of excise taxes of $22.8 billion and operating income of $8.9 billion....

Travel & leisure: Carnival
Carnival

Carnival is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during January and February. Carnival typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus , masque and public street party....
, Las Vegas Sands
Las Vegas Sands

Las Vegas Sands Corp. is a casino resort company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. At one point in 2007, it had a market capitalization of $43.7 billion, making its majority shareholder, Sheldon Adelson, one of the world's richest men....
, SKYCITY Entertainment Group
SKYCITY Entertainment Group

SKYCITY Entertainment Group is a New Zealand corporation whose core business is owning and operating casinos in Australasia. It is the smallest of four major players operating in the market....

Primary Industries: ABB Grain Limited Others: Sungi Development Co Limited


Name and branding

The firm's name arises out of the merger of Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand in 1998.

Staff

Because PricewaterhouseCoopers' only product is the output of its employees, the firm has a competitive recruiting program. PricewaterhouseCoopers was recently included in Fortune magazine's "100 Best Companies to Work For" list, coming in at number 58 in 2009. In the UK the company has been voted number one in the Times Top 100 Graduate Employers for 5 consecutive years. PricewaterhouseCoopers is one of the top 10 companies for working mothers. In October 2008, PricewaterhouseCoopers was named one of "Canada's Top 100 Employers
Canada's Top 100 Employers

Canada's Top 100 Employers is an annual competition that recognizes the best places in Canada to work. First held in 1999, the project aims to single out the employers that lead their industries in offering exceptional working conditions and progressive human resources policies....
" by Mediacorp Canada Inc., and was featured in Maclean's
Maclean's

Maclean's is a Canada weekly news magazine, reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events....
 newsmagazine. Later that month, PricewaterhouseCoopers was also named one of Greater Toronto's Top Employers
Greater Toronto's Top Employers

Greater Toronto's Top Employers is an annual competition that recognizes the best places to work in the Greater Toronto Area. Published annually since October 2006, the designation singles out the employers in greater Toronto that lead their industries in creating forward-thinking workplaces with progressive human resources policies....
, which was announced by the Toronto Star
Toronto Star

The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, though its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario....
 newspaper. PricewaterhouseCoopers in Ireland was named as the winner of the Best Company to Work for in Ireland 2008 by the Great Place to Work Institute in their annual list of Ireland's top employers.

Criticisms


Dell, Inc. litigation

On January 31, 2007 PwC was named as a co-defendant in a class action lawsuit filed against Dell
Dell

Dell, Inc. is a multinational corporation technology corporation that develops, manufactures, sells, and supports personal computers and other computer-related products....
, the world's number two PC
Personal computer

A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose original sales price, size, and capabilities make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end user, with no intervening computer operator....
 manufacturer. Taken on behalf of shareholders, the lawsuit alleges that Dell, and its auditors, failed to disclose information about Dell's financial condition.

Tyco settlement

In July 2007, PwC agreed to pay $225 million to settle a class-action lawsuit brought by shareholders of Tyco International Ltd.
Tyco

see also taikoTyco may refer to:*Tyco International, a diversified industrial conglomerate*Tyco Toys, a division of Mattel that has never been affiliated with the above company...
 over a multibillion-dollar accounting fraud.

Satyam case

Recently, PwC were criticised along with the promoters of Satyam, an Indian IT firm listed on the NYSE, in a $1.5 billion fraud. PwC has written a letter to the board of directors of Satyam that its audit may be rendered "inaccurate and unreliable" due to the disclosures made by Satyam's (ex) Chairman. PwC's U.S. arm “was the reviewer for the U.S. filings for Satyam.” Consequently, lawsuits have been filed in the U.S. with PwC as a defendant.

Two Price Waterhouse partners, Srinivas Talluri and S. Gopalakrishnan, have been detained by the police in India for further questioning in connection with the fraud investigation at Satyam Computer Services Ltd., Price Waterhouse said on Jan. 24 2009.

Other punishments and criticisms

India's accounting standards agency ICAI
ICAI

ICAI may stand for* Institute of Chartered Accountants of India* Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland* ICAI Madrid, Instituto Cat?lico de Artes e Industrias of the Comillas Pontifical University in Madrid, Spain....
 is investigating partners of PwC for professional negligence in the now-defunct Global Trust Bank Ltd. case of 2007. Like Satyam, Global Trust Bank was also based in Hyderabad
Hyderabad

Hyderabad may refer to:In India* Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, the capital city of the state of Andhra Pradesh in India.* Hyderabad State, the pre-1956 state in India...
. This led to Reserve Bank of India
Reserve Bank of India

The Reserve Bank of India is the central bank of India, and was established on April 1, 1935 in accordance with the provisions of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934....
 banning PwC from auditing any financial company for over a year. PwC was also associated with the accounting scandal at DSQ Software
DSQ software

DSQ Software Ltd, established in 1992 and headquartered in Chennai formerly Madras, India was a publicly listed top performing software services and consulting company in the 1990s....
 in India. In July 2006, PwC’s Japanese affiliate Chuo Aoyama was handed a two-month ban. Following the Satyam scandal, the Mumbai-based Small Investor Grievances Association (SIGA) has requested the Indian stock market regulator SEBI to ban PwC permanently and seize its assets in India alleging few more scandals like "Ketan Mehta stock manipulations."

Sponsorship

PricewaterhouseCoopers has been a sponsor of the Dutch
Netherlands

The Netherlands is a country that is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands is located in North-West Europe, and bordered by the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east....
 football team.

Notable current and former employees


Business

  • Joe Price, CFO, Bank of America
  • Frank Brown, former leader of the Advisory service line and current dean
    Dean (education)

    In academic administration, a dean is a person with significant authority over a specific Academia unit, or over a specific area of concern, or both....
     of INSEAD
  • Barbara Cassani
    Barbara Cassani

    Barbara Ann Cassani, Order of the British Empire, is an United States businesswoman. She was the founder under British Airways of budget airline Go Fly and was the first leader of London's bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics....
    , former CEO of Go Fly
    Go Fly

    Go Fly was the name of an award-winning British airline, trading as "Go", which was purchased by easyJet in May 2002 for the equivalent of $545 million....
     and former chairman of the London 2012 Olympic committee.
  • Cynthia Cooper
    Cynthia Cooper (WorldCom)

    Cynthia Cooper is a native of Clinton, Mississippi who formerly served as the Vice President of Internal Audit at WorldCom. In 2002, Cooper and her team of auditors worked together and often at night and in secret to investigate and unearth $3.8 billion in fraud at WorldCom....
    , internal auditor, WorldCom
    Worldcom

    Worldcom may refer to:* MCI Inc.* Worldcom Public Relations GroupExternal References:...
     accounting scandal whistle blower
  • Robert Dart
    Robert Dart

    Member of several prestigious Canadian Board of Directors. Born on May 10, 1938. Married to Jane Dart....
    , Prominent Canadian businessman and philanthropist
    Philanthropist

    A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable organization....
  • David Gill
    David Gill (executive)

    David A. Gill is United Kingdom association football executive, currently Chief Executive of Manchester United F.C. and a board member of The Football Association....
    , Chairman of Manchester United F.C.
    Manchester United F.C.

    Manchester United Football Club is an English association football club, based at Old Trafford in Trafford, Greater Manchester, and is one of the most popular football clubs in the world, with over 330 million supporters worldwide ? almost 5% of the world's population....
  • Jonathan Howell, Director of Finance for the London Stock Exchange
    London Stock Exchange

    The London Stock Exchange or LSE is a stock exchange located in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1801, it is one of the largest stock exchanges in the world, with many overseas listings as well as British companies....
  • Margaret Jackson
    Margaret Jackson

    Margaret Jackson, Order of Australia is an Australian corporate executive.Jackson was born in Warragul, Victoria, Victoria, and studied at Warragul High School....
    , Chairman of Qantas
    Qantas

    Qantas Airways Limited is the national airline of Australia. The name was originally "QANTAS", an acronym for "Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services"....
     (2000–present)
  • Mark King, CEO of Affiliated Computer Services
    Affiliated Computer Services

    ACS Affiliated Computer Services is a Fortune 500 company that provides information technology services as well as business process outsourcing solutions to businesses, government agencies, and non-profit organizations....
  • Phil Knight
    Phil Knight

    Philip Hampson Knight is an United States billionaire, and the co-founder and Chairman of Nike, Inc.. He resigned as the company's chief executive officer in 2004, while retaining the position of chairman of the board....
    , Co-founder and Chairman of Nike
    Nike, Inc.

    Nike, Inc. is a major Public company sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, near the Portland metropolitan area of Oregon....
  • Chris Lucas, Finance Director of Barclays Bank
  • Dennis Powell, CFO of Cisco Systems
    Cisco Systems

    Cisco Systems, Inc. is a multinational corporation with more than 66,000 employees and annual revenue of United States dollar39 billion as of 2008....
    , INC.
  • James Schiro, CEO of Zurich Financial Services
    Zurich Financial Services

    Zurich Financial Services Group is a major financial services group based in Z?rich, Switzerland....
  • James M. Schneider, CFO of Dell
    Dell

    Dell, Inc. is a multinational corporation technology corporation that develops, manufactures, sells, and supports personal computers and other computer-related products....
  • Frederick Henderson
    Frederick Henderson

    Frederick "Fritz" Henderson is currently the President and Chief Operating Officer of General Motors Corporation. He has been with the company since 1984....
    , CFO of General Motors
    General Motors

    General Motors Corporation , founded in 1908, is the world's second-largest automaker after Toyota, ranked by 2008 global unit sales. GM was the global sales leader for 77 consecutive calendar years from 1931 to 2008....
  • Peter Smith, Chairman of Savills
    Savills

    Savills plc is a United Kingdom-based firm of estate agents, property advisors, planning consultants, and surveyors. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index....
     estate agents
  • Henry Staunton
    Henry Staunton

    Born in India on May 20, 1948, Henry Staunton is a United Kingdom businessman and the former Finance Director of Granada Group and ITV plc.Named in The Times 2006 Power 100 survey, referred to as "FD Supreme" by Accountancy Age, and rated as one of the magazine's top 50 finance movers and shakers, Staunton is a "well regarded dealmaker" wit...
    , Finance Director of ITV plc
    ITV plc

    ITV plc is a United Kingdom media company that operates 11 of the 15 regional television broadcasters that make up the ITV, the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom....
     (2003–present)
  • John Surma, Chairman and CEO of U.S. Steel
    U.S. Steel

    The United States Steel Corporation , more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an integrated steel producer with major production operations in the United States, Canada, and Central Europe....
     (2004–present)
  • Eugene Tenenbaum
    Eugene Tenenbaum

    Eugene Tenenbaum is currently Managing Director of MHC-Services Ltd and serves on the board of directors of Chelsea F.C., Evraz Group SA and Highland Gold Mining Limited....
    , managing director of Millhouse Capital UK Ltd
  • Min Zhu
    Min Zhu

    Min Zhu is the co-founder and former president and chief technical officer of WebEx.Zhu received his bachelor degree from Zhejiang University....
    , co-founder of WebEx
    WebEx

    WebEx Communications Inc. is a Cisco Systems company that provides on-demand collaboration, online meeting, web conferencing and video conferencing applications....
  • Richard Meddings, Group Finance Director, Standard Chartered plc
  • Gianluca Meardi, Partner in Reply and founder of xPrice.biz international PwC Alumni community
  • J. Michael Schlotman, CFO of The Kroger Co.
  • Harish Butani, CFO of DHAB Consulting


Politics and public service

  • William Reynolds Archer, Jr.
    William Reynolds Archer, Jr.

    William Reynolds ?Bill? Archer, Jr. is a former United States lawyer and politician. Archer served two terms, from 1967 to 1971, in the Texas House of Representatives ? changing from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party party in 1969 ? and later represented Texas in the United States House of Representatives for 30 years, from 1971...
    , U.S. Representative from Texas's 7th Congressional District (1971-2001), and former Chairman of House Ways and Means Committee (1995-2001).
  • Steven Ciobo
    Steven Ciobo

    Steven Ciobo , Australian politician, has been a Liberal Party of Australia member of the Australian House of Representatives since November 2001 representing the Division of Moncrieff, Queensland....
    , member of the Australian House of Representatives
    Australian House of Representatives

    The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house, the upper house being the Australian Senate....
     (2001–present)
  • Justine Greening
    Justine Greening

    Justine Greening is a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom, Member of Parliament for Putney and a Shadow Shadow Minister for the Treasury....
    , Conservative
    Conservative Party (UK)

    The Conservative and Unionist Party, more commonly known as the Conservative Party, is a conservative political party in the United Kingdom....
     Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom
    Parliament of the United Kingdom

    The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislature in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories....
     (2005–present)
  • David Heathcoat-Amory
    David Heathcoat-Amory

    David Philip Heathcoat-Amory, MP is a United Kingdom politician, accountant and farmer. He is the Conservative Party Member of Parliament for Wells ....
    , Conservative Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom (1983–present)
  • Mark Hoban
    Mark Hoban

    Mark Gerard Hoban is a United Kingdom politician and the Conservative Party Member of Parliament for Fareham ....
    , Conservative Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom (2001–present)
  • John Liu
    John Liu

    John Chun Liu is a New York City elected official, currently serving on the New York City Council representing District 20. He was elected in 2001 to represent northeast Queens and was re-elected in 2003 and 2005....
    , member of the New York City Council
    New York City Council

    The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of the New York City. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The Council serves as balance of power against the List of mayors of New York City in a "strong" mayor-council government model....
     (2001–present)
  • Jeffrey Lucy
    Jeffrey Lucy

    Jeffrey John Lucy Order of Australia is the former Chairman of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission , Australia's Capital Markets and Corporations Regulator....
    , chairman of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission
    Australian Securities and Investments Commission

    The Australian Securities & Investments Commission is an independent Australian government body that acts as Australia's corporate regulator. ASIC's role is to enforce and regulate company and financial services laws to protect Australian consumers, investors and creditors....
     (2004–07)
  • Robert McNamara
    Robert McNamara

    Robert Strange McNamara is an United States business executive and the 8th United States Secretary of Defense. McNamara served as Defense Secretary during the Vietnam War from 1961 to 1968....
    , United States Secretary of Defense
    United States Secretary of Defense

    File:USSecDefflag.PNGThe United States Secretary of Defense is the head of the United States Department of Defense , concerned with the Military of the United States and Military of the United States....
     (1961–68); President of the World Bank
    World Bank

    The World Bank is a bank that provides financial and technical assistance to developing countries for development programs with the stated goal of reducing poverty....
     (1968–81)
  • Morten Andreas Meyer
    Morten Andreas Meyer

    Morten Andreas Meyer is a Norwegian politician for the Conservative Party of Norway.In 2001, when the second cabinet Bondevik held office, Meyer was appointed State Secretary#Norway in the Norwegian Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development....
    , Norwegian Minister of Modernisation (2001–05)
  • Francis Plowden
    Francis Plowden

    Francis John Plowden is a lay member of the Judicial Appointments Commission.Plowden is Chairman of the Greenwich Foundation for the Royal Naval College, Greenwich and Chairman of the National Council for Palliative Care....
    , laymember of the Judicial Appointments Commission
    Judicial Appointments Commission

    The Judicial Appointments Commission is responsible for selecting judges in England and Wales. It is a non-departmental public body which was created on 3 April 2006 as part of the reforms following the Constitutional Reform Act 2005....
  • Sergei Shatalov, Russian Deputy Minister of Finance (2000-present)
  • John Stuttard
    John Stuttard

    Sir John Boothman Stuttard was Lord Mayor of the City of London in 2006/2007.Stuttard was educated at Shrewsbury School and Churchill College, Cambridge, before joining Cooper Brothers in 1967, qualifying as a chartered accountant in 1970 and becoming a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales....
    , Lord Mayor of the City of London (2006)
  • Paul Szabo
    Paul Szabo

    Paul John Mark Szabo is a Canada politician. He is a current member of the Canadian House of Commons, representing the electoral district of Mississauga South for the Liberal Party of Canada....
    , Member of the Canadian House of Commons
    Canadian House of Commons

    The House of Commons is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Canadian monarchy and the Senate of Canada. The House of Commons is a democracy elected body, consisting of 40th Canadian Parliament known as Members of Parliament ....
     (1993–present)
  • Stephen Williams
    Stephen Williams (politician)

    Stephen Roy Williams is a United Kingdom Liberal Democrats politician who was elected Member of Parliament for Bristol West in the UK general election, 2005....
    , Liberal Democrat
    Liberal Democrats

    The Liberal Democrats, often shortened to Lib Dems or just Lib Dem, are a Liberalism political party in the United Kingdom, formed in 1988 by merging the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party ; the two parties had been SDP-Liberal Alliance for seven years, from shortly after the formation of the SDP....
     Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom(2005–present
  • Charlie McCreevy
    Charlie McCreevy

    Charles "Charlie" McCreevy, ; born 30 September 1949) is an Ireland politician. He has been the European Commissioner for the Internal Market and Services portfolio since 2004....
    , Irish Minister for Finance
    Minister for Finance (Ireland)

    The Minister for Finance is the title held by the Republic of Ireland minister responsible for all financial and monetary matters. The office-holder controls the Department of Finance and is considered one of the most important members of the Government of Ireland....
     (1997-2004), EU Commissioner (2004-present)
  • Mahmoud Moh'd, Bahrain Minister for Finance (2008-present)
  • Ron Miller
    Ron Miller (politician)

    Ron Miller is an United States politician and businessman from the U.S. state of Maryland. He lives in Huntingtown, Maryland, and is the communications director for the Calvert County, Maryland Republican Central Committee....
    , Chief Information Officer, Federal Emergency Management Agency
    Federal Emergency Management Agency

    The Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, is an agency of the United States United States Department of Homeland Security, initially created by Presidential Order on April 1, 1979)....
     (2001-2002)


Other

  • Peadar Andrews
    Peadar Andrews

    Peadar Andrews is an Irish Gaelic football who played for Dublin GAA. He was part of the 2005 Dublin team that beat Laois to become the 2005 Leinster Champions and was in the panel for Dublin GAA second Leinster Championship in a row against Offaly GAA in July 2006....
    , Gaelic footballer
  • Paul Bernardo
    Paul Bernardo

    Paul Kenneth Bernardo, , is a Canada serial killer and rape, known for the murders he committed with his wife Karla Homolka....
    , Canadian serial killer
    Serial killer

    A serial killer is a person who murders usually three or more people"One of the most famous [geographically stable] serial killers is Wayne Williams....
  • Keith Bradshaw
    Keith Bradshaw

    Keith Bradshaw is an Australian cricketer, accountant and Administration .He was a right-handed batsman who played in 25 first-class and nine List A limited-over matches for Tasmania between 1984-85 and 1987-88 without fulfilling his early promise....
    , cricketer
  • Edwin Flack, Australian athlete
  • Geoffrey Lehmann
    Geoffrey lehmann

    Geoffrey Lehmann is an Australian poet, children's writer, and tax lawyer. Lehmann grew up in McMahon's point, Sydney, and attended high school at the Shore School in North Sydney....
    , Australian poet
  • Marisha Pessl
    Marisha Pessl

    Marisha Pessl is an United States writer best known for her debut novel, Special Topics in Calamity Physics.Pessl was born in Clarkston, Michigan, Michigan, to Klaus, an Austrians engineer for General Motors, and Anne, an American homemaker....
    , writer
  • Prannoy Roy
    Prannoy Roy

    Dr. Prannoy L Roy is an Indian media figure. His father is a Bengali and his mother is English. He is founder and the president of New Delhi Television ....
    , Indian journalist
  • Enrique Sarasola
    Enrique Sarasola

    Enrique Sarasola was a Spain business magnate, a major figure in his country's transition to democracy, and an owner and horse breeding of Thoroughbred horse racing....
    , Spanish industrialist
  • Thomas M. Sullivan
    Thomas M. Sullivan

    Tom Sullivan is a business news anchor for the Fox Business Network, who also hosts a syndication radio talk show on the Fox News Radio network....
    , talk show host
  • Wayan Vota
    Wayan Vota

    Wayan Vota has been involved in various international ICT4D projects sponsored by United States Agency for International Development, public foundations and private companies....
    , OLPC independent voice


External links

  • - Weblog with news about PwC and other Big Four auditors.


Further reading

  • True and Fair: A History of Price Waterhouse, Jones, E., 1995, Hamish Hamilton, ISBN 0-241-00172-2
  • An Early History of Coopers & Lybrand, 1984, Garland Publishing Inc., ISBN 978-0824063191