Much available evidence supports this allegation. But the dam seems to have broken in 1997-1998 with a flurry of activity at the SEC and frequent reports in The Wall Street Journal and on the Internet.
Recent research suggests that cognitive limitations make independence an impossibility.
What makes this so debilitating is that accounting professionals may not recognize the effect of cognitive limitations on their professional judgment and behavior. This hypothesis has come together recently and obviously is based on anecdotal evidence. If a study and an appropriate model were designed and tested with empirical data, it might provide some scientifically based data on the impact on individuals of misrepresenting oneself as being free of conflict in situations where conflicts of interests are an important part of professional activities. The level of ethical reasoning might be measured using the Defining Issues Test. They also are very important to the capital markets, our economy, and our society.