SEC PROBE CASTS SHADOW ON CHINESE FIRMS’ US LISTINGS
By Thomas Clouse
The US Securities and Exchange Commission filed charges against the Chinese branches of five international accounting firms in December for failing to provide information related to investigations into US-listed Chinese firms.
If the subsidiaries supply the requested information, however, they risk violating Chinese laws on disclosure of state secrets. The SEC charges could prevent these subsidiaries from auditing companies listed on US exchanges. This would affect not only current and future US listings by Chinese firms but also US-based firms operating in China.
China’s Communist Party is investigating the deputy party chief from the southwestern province of Sichuan, according to media reports. It is the first high-profile corruption investigation since Xi Jinping was tapped to be the country’s next president.
A wealth management product sold through a branch of Huaxia Bank has failed to make promised payments. According to Fitch Ratings, WMPs totaled RMB10.4 trillion ($1.7 trillion) at the end of the second quarter, with smaller banks increasingly taking on the associated risks. This is the first widely reported case of a WMP default.
