The reluctance to advertise was partially due to local, state,
and national accounting professional societies not following
the Bates ruling by the Supreme Court. An investigation by
the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) found the prohibition
against accounting association members advertising was often
not removed. After the FTC investigation, a consent decree
was signed by the American Institute of Certified Public
Accountants (AICPA) on August 9, 1990. The AICPA agreed
in the decree not to punish its members for using solicitation,
pricing, advertising, and other marketing practices (Bose and
Law, 2003).