Trust In Me

Chris Carlson

Phoenix-Based Allied Waste is one of the 100 most trustworthy companies, according to a recently published list in Forbes magazine. The list is compiled by Audit Integrity, a Los Angeles-based financial analyst company, and is based on financial and non-financial measures. More than 8,000 publicly held companies were surveyed for the rankings.

“It is extremely gratifying to be recognized two years in a row for our financial reporting and accounting practices,” said Peter S. Hathaway, executive vice president and chief financial officer for Allied Waste, in a press release. “Today, more than ever, investors need to feel confident in the integrity of a company's overall accounting statements.”

Allied Waste is the only solid waste management company to make the list and is one of only 33 companies to make the list each of the past two years. According to Audit Integrity, there is a correlation between integrity and profitability.

Audit Integrity uses its Accounting and Governance Risk (AGR) rating to assess publicly traded companies in terms of overall risk of potentially fraudulent or misleading activity. The rating is the result of a quantitative assessment of facts drawn from corporate filings and news. This is only the second year Audit Integrity has recognized a top 100, despite the fact that the AGR ratings have been compiled since 2003.

Out of the top 100, Audit Integrity separated the companies into small-, mid-, and large-cap categories. Among the mid-cap company rankings, Allied Waste scored an AGR rating of 77. Mercury General, a property and casualty insurance company, led the mid-cap rankings with an AGR rating of 85.