US lawmakers ratcheted up pressure on Chinese companies whose shares list on US stock exchanges to be more transparent with their financial audits.
The US Congress on Friday passed legislation to speed up the timeline for expelling companies from the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ if US regulators cannot fully review their audit papers.
After months of high-stakes drama, the tension eased last week when the US Public Company Accounting Oversight Board said it gained sufficient access to audit documents from firms in China and Hong Kong for the first time.
Photo: AFP
Still, officials said they would continue to review the situation and could change their determination — a threat made more serious by the provision passed on Friday.
China and the US had been at odds over the issue for years, with Beijing citing national security concerns in opposition.
The provision — included in a US$1.7 trillion US government funding package — speeds up the delisting process to two years from three and could affect about 200 companies from Hong Kong and China that trade on US exchanges.
“I’ve been fighting for more accountability for foreign companies that use American capital,” US Senator John Kennedy, a Republican from Louisiana who pushed for the change, said in a statement.
Regulators are finally getting the power to “remind China that playing by the rules isn’t optional,” he added.
The White House said US President Joe Biden would soon sign the legislation into law.
The long-simmering audit issue morphed into a political one as tensions swelled during the administration of former US president Donald Trump. In 2020 Congress set out a three-year timetable for delisting shares for companies whose documents US watchdogs cannot review.
“Cranking up the pressure now will help us hold China’s feet to the fire and keep investors protected as we continue demanding complete access moving forward,” oversight board Chair Erica Williams said in a statement.
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