The corporate finance and accounting scandals of 2001 and 2002 hurt more than just profits and portfolio gains. They also sideswiped the confidence of financial market participants. The problems that brought down Enron, WorldCom, and others were not limited to those companies.
In fact, the international task force appointed by the International Federation of Accountants - and chaired by John Crow, a former Bank of Canada Governor - correctly notes that Enron was the event which, by its sheer size, awoke many to issues that had been significant for some time.