As was the case at WorldCom (discussed in the previous chapter), the fraud at Enron has numerous ethical and corporate governance implications. Given the complexity of Enron’s fraudulent activity, it could not have been accomplished without the cooperation of outside professionals (e.g., attorneys, auditors, credit rating agencies, and investment bankers). Enron needed outside legal help to create the various SPEs. These attorneys helped create the SPEs without ascertaining whether at least 3 percent of their outside equity capital was at risk. The external auditor, Arthur Andersen, issued unqualified audit opinions onEnron’s financial statements despite severe doubt that Enron’s filings conformed with GAAP. Credit rating agencies maintained investment grade credit ratings on Enron’s debt throughout the entire period of the fraud and did not downgrade Enron’s debt until a few weeks before the bankruptcy filing. Finally, major Wall Street investment banks created the SPE structures, including numerous transactions that resulted in debt being transferred from Enron’s books to the SPEs. All of these outside professionals failed to act in an ethical manner