Fairfield County Business Journal Deloitte unit fined as unregistered
Deloitte unit fined as unregistered
In perhaps a tale of government red tape stretched to the limit, the state fined an affiliate of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu for operating illegally in Connecticut without having registered with the state – despite the Deloitte’s status as one of Fairfield County’s larger employers where it has some 700 employees.
Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz fined Deloitte Investment Advisors L.L.C. $22,000 in the past year for failing to register with her office before conducting business in the state between 1997 and 2008, the highest penalty levied for such an infraction during the past year.
The state retains the power to fine companies that do not register primarily to locate them in the event a local resident or business accuses them of fraudulent activity or files a lawsuit in state court.
That is hardly an issue in the case of Deloitte Investment Advisors, however, whose Deloitte parent company at last report had nearly 700 employees at offices in Wilton and Stamford. If within the letter of the law, the fine would seem to lie outside the spirit of the law to prevent fly-by-night companies from disappearing from the radar.
“Unfair competition from out-of-state companies who fail to register their business is the last thing Connecticut entrepreneurs need,” said Susan Bysiewicz, secretary of state, in a prepared statement. “We have zero tolerance for those firms who skirt the law. These fines improve accountability for Connecticut consumers and give us a strong deterrent to
level the playing field for in-state businesses that are struggling to succeed.”
A Deloitte spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Av Harris, a spokesman in Bysiewicz’s office, said the law is uniform for all corporations, regardless of size or how well-known the firm is in a particular region of the state.
“For every large and well-known company there are literally thousands of smaller firms who may operate out of someone’s home and only employ one person,” Harris said.
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