Chinese regulators have hit PwC’s auditing unit in mainland China with a six-month business suspension and a record fine of 441 million yuan ($62 million) over the firm’s audit of troubled property developer China Evergrande Group.
“PwC has seriously eroded the basis of law and good faith, and damaged investors’ interest,” said the China Securities Regulatory Commission in a statement.
PwC Zhong Tian, the registered accounting entity and the main onshore arm of PwC in China, was the country’s top-earning auditor in 2022, according to the latest official data.
The ministry also imposed a fine of 116 million yuan ($16 million) on PwC Zhong Tian for its auditing failure of Hengda in 2018, according to an MOF statement.
The CSRC said in a separate statement that it had confiscated PwC Zhong Tian’s revenue involved in the Evergrande case totalling 27.7 million yuan and fined the unit 297 million yuan.
Persons:
Zhong Tian, “ PwC, ”, PwC Zhong, Daniel Li, Hemione Hudson, CSRC, PwC
Organizations:
China Evergrande Group, Big, —, China Securities Regulatory Commission, China’s Ministry of Finance, Bank of China
Locations:
China, PwC, Hong Kong, New York