Introduction The recent global economic crisis left on its wake a number of bankrupt business organisations. These were especially those business organisations that were poorly structured or poorly managed such that they were unable to withstand the effects of the crisis. However, there are some organisations which filed for bankruptcy within the same period but whose downfall cannot be fully attributed to the global economic meltdown. Those were for example the firms that were embroiled in financial and other forms of scandals whose effects might have made it hard for them to withstand the crisis. An example of companies or business organisations that reported poor performance and filed for bankruptcy in the 21 st century is Enron Corporation and Parmalat SpA. The former used to operate from Houston, Texas, with more than 20,000 employees. The company filed for bankruptcy late 2001. Prior to this, it was considered to be one of the leading organisations in the energy, communications and pulp paper industries. In 2000, this organisation’s revenues were approximated to be more than 100 billion US dollars. However, the company came crumbling down by the end of 2001 after it emerged that the financial records filed by the management were fraudulent and misleading. This is where the infamous Enron scandal emerged from. This was more or less the same for Parmalat SpA by the end of 2003. Before then, the company was hailed as one of the leading dairy firms in the world. Operating from Italy, the organisation has operations in various cities around the world. Apart from dairy products, the company is also known for its production and distribution of fruit juices through its various subsidiaries and outlets all over the world. The organisation has more than 140 production plants scattered all over the world. These (together with the other business operations) engage approximately 36000 members of staff. The collapse of this company and the reported financial fraud associated with the fraud made analysts term this as one of the biggest bankruptcies in the continent. It was likened to the Enron scandal mentioned earlier in this paper, with parallels drawn on how the two organisations misrepresented their financial reports prior to their collapse. In this report, the author will critically analyse the ethical issues revolving around the two financial scandals mentioned above. In the report, the author will set out the main issues and criticisms surrounding the two scandals. The extent to which these scandals could be considered as ethical and legal violations will also be analysed. The author will also analyse the impact of the two events on the general public’s views of business operations in USA and Italy. This is in addition to a critical analysis of the extent to which the two events reflect their respective national contexts. Finally, the author will provide informed recommendations on how such scandals can be averted in the future. The Main Issues Enron’s Financial ‘Scandal’: The Main Issues Enron was established in 1985 and emerged to be one of the largest public investment companies in America. This was before its bankruptcy in 2001 as mentioned earlier. The company had invested