After September 11, the world seemed a bleak place. Businesses reeled at the scale of the disaster, unable to comprehend the scale of losses - both human and financial.

Then the Enron collapse came along and the already leaden skies became darker as life savings and pensions were wiped out.

Suddenly market fluctuations were directly affecting the pocket books of many of the ordinary people in the US, Bermuda and right across the world.

And any business with less than crystal-clear accounting practices has come under the spotlight and analysts caught on the hop have been searching for what might be the next Enron wipe-out.

The collapse of the Houston energy giant has started a ripple effect across the world which has been lapping up against the shores of Bermuda.

Along the way Bermuda's reputation may have been dented as it was linked to allegedly "dodgy" accounting practices by the world's press.

"I think if you're running an operation out of Bermuda, you probably have to be that much more clear, that much more careful in stating your purpose,'" Erik Sirri, a former chief economist for the Securities and Exchange Commission, told Reuters and the world. "For an enlightened investor, I think a light goes off and they say: 'Bermuda, let's see why'."

And no matter how vigorously Bermuda defends itself against such remarks, it is likely that some of this perception will remain in the onshore world.

Minster of Finance Eugene Cox has defended the good practices of Bermuda and pointed out that the companies in question are regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Finance Ministry says the Island's credibility is intact and that its safeguards against financial deceit are sufficient to maintain that credibility.

But it is not just Bermuda that has come under fire, but there have been questions about accounting practices in large companies around the world.

The phrase "accounting issues" itself can cause wild gyrations in stock prices, with little regard to the validity of the relevant accusations.

Companies that are perceived to have played fast and loose with their accounting have been getting massacred in the market as people fear they are holding on to "the next Enron".

Some large companies with questions on accounting practices include Bermuda-based Tyco and the bankrupt Bermuda-based Global Crossing.

And there are question marks over Irish pharmaceutical company Elan's Bermuda subsidiaries as well as shots fired about Enron's Bermuda subsidiaries. All of these have left black clouds hanging over the Island.

Shareholders are worried they may be left high and dry as historically companies been caught playing fast and loose with accounting over the past few years have fallen by the way side (Waste Management, Cendant and MicroStrategy).

The events at Enron have made the casual investor leery of accounting practices of all big companies that may have bent the rules to show a bigger profit, and in this both the dirty and the clean are being punished. Investors are not sticking around to find out the hard way.

Three of the worst hit by the jitters of the analysts and stock holders are Tyco, Elan and General Electric, who are in good company along with normally blue chip IBM and Coca-Cola.

Rather than leave cash in shoeboxes under beds, this week the fears about corporate America's accounting practices led to a rallying of US Treasury bonds wanting to snap up safe-haven US government securities.

It is easy to dwell on the impact the bad press over accounting may have on Bermuda as a jurisdiction, with damning words not just on Reuters, but the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and even the BBC World Service.

The whole world is in turmoil and there is little doubt that the generally accepted accounting practices (GAAP) will have to change, and investors will look longer and harder at where money is put.

There may be dark clouds forming all around the Island, but it is worthwhile to note that there have been reports of stormy skies all over the world.