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Financial Consultants

History

The first management consulting firms were founded in the early 20th century, and many provided financial advice to corporations and other businesses, nonprofits, and government agencies at all levels. As more laws regulating business were passed, and U.S. business activity increased and trade expanded globally, demand grew for financial consultants. 

In the 2000s, major financial scandals prompted Congress to pass several laws to address improper corporate activity, including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which requires higher levels of financial accounting and disclosure from all publicly held companies, and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, which imposes higher standards of accountability on the financial industry and offers improved protections to consumers. These new regulations have created excellent opportunities for financial consultants.

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