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☆ Delisting risk eases for Alibaba and other US-listed Chinese companies after American officials get audit access
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Carla Mozée | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Alibaba and other US-listed Chinese firms face a lower risk of delisting after officials got access to audit data. Inspectors conducted on-site work in Hong Kong but have yet to gain access to mainland China. The work lessens the potential that roughly 200 Chinese companies will be booted from American exchanges. Chinese officials have cited national security concerns for shutting down inspection demands. The watchdog said it's continuing to demand complete access in mainland China and Hong Kong and is already planning for regular inspections starting in early 2023.

☆ U.S. watchdog levies $7.7 mln in fines against KPMG entities
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Chris Prentice | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 6 (Reuters) - A U.S. agency tasked with overseeing the audits of public companies on Tuesday said it imposed $7.7 million in fines and sanctioned three firms across KPMG's global network for violations of professional auditing standards, quality control standards and other rules. The companies are all member firms of KPMG, known as one of the "Big Four" accounting firms, which also include Deloitte & Touche LLP, Ernst & Young LLP and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. Larry Bradley, global head of audit at KPMG, acknowledged the PCAOB's findings and said the firm "remains committed globally to the highest standards of quality and integrity." The PCAOB also barred or suspended four KPMG auditors from participating in public company audits. Reporting by Chris Prentice; editing by Jonathan Oatis, Aurora Ellis and Leslie AdlerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ U.S. Watchdog Sanctions KPMG Firms, Audit Professionals
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Jennifer Williams-Alvarez | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +7 min

PREVIEWThe U.K. firm was additionally sanctioned for allegedly failing to reasonably supervise an unregistered audit firm, Romanian audit firm KPMG Audit SRL, in four consecutive audits of Endava PLC, a British technology services company. KPMG U.K. was found to have also made several inaccurate PCAOB filings about the involvement of unregistered firms in certain audit work. The PCAOB imposed a $600,000 penalty for the alleged failings around unregistered audit firms, which KPMG U.K. didn’t admit or deny. KPMG U.K. has reviewed the way it works with other firms, enhancing controls and providing additional training, Cath Burnet, U.K. head of audit at KPMG, said. The U.K.’s audit and accounting regulator in a July letter to seven audit firms, including KPMG, said that it is “deeply concerned” about audit professionals cheating on external professional exams and internal assessments.

☆ More Crypto Exchanges Verify Reserves, But Questions About Assets Remain
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Mark Maurer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +7 min

Most crypto exchanges are privately held, meaning they don’t have to file financial statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission or get them audited. He added that customers of crypto exchanges should “look for as rigorous of that as you can look for regulatory reporting.”FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried sat down with The Wall Street Journal to discuss what happened to the billions of dollars deposited by the exchange’s customers. Photo: Kenny Wassus/The Wall Street JournalSuch a third-party verification represents a step toward more transparency around crypto exchanges, but there are significant shortcomings, some academics said. Coinbase Global Inc. last month reported $95.11 billion in both customer crypto assets and liabilities for the quarter ended Sept. 30, up from $88.45 billion the previous quarter, filings show. Still, the PCAOB encourages investors to review reports on the work those companies’ auditors have done, Chair Erica Williams said at a conference Tuesday.

☆ U.S. Audit Watchdog Looks to Strengthen Rules on Quality Controls
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Mark Maurer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

The regulator inspects audit firms’ approach to quality controls as part of its reviews. Fourteen audit firms issued audit reports for over 100 businesses apiece last year, the PCAOB’s website shows. Audit firms would have to conduct the first evaluation of their quality controls by the following Nov. 30. It is considering revising changes to rules on confirmations, a process by which audit firms obtain and evaluate audit evidence from independent third parties. The regulator is working to update more than 30 audit rules related to 10 of its standard-setting projects, many of which refer to outdated technology.

HONG KONG/WASHINGTON, Nov 16 (Reuters) - U.S. regulators gained "good access" in their review of auditing work done on New York-listed Chinese firms during a seven-week inspection, four sources with knowledge of the matter said - a key step forward in resolving a long-standing bilateral dispute. Inspectors with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) conducting the inspection in Hong Kong gained all the information they requested, one of the sources said. They were also allowed to print out some documents to more easily review information despite some initial hesitancy from Chinese officials, the source said. Authorities in China have long been reluctant to let overseas regulators inspect local accounting firms, citing national security concerns. Reporting by Xie Yu and Julie Zhu in Hong Kong, Chris Prentice in Washington; Editing by Sumeet Chatterjee and Edwina GibbsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Macau Under Spotlight Amid U.S. Inspections of China-Based Audits
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-13 | by ( Mark Maurer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +8 min

The PCAOB, which began inspections of China-based audits in September, will decide by year-end whether China is complying with the agreement. “We do not know if these firms, especially in the U.S., have been adequately supervising the Macau firms,” she said. The Macau firms’ work isn’t immune from PCAOB inspection. PwC Macau is a separate legal entity, but it is run as part of the firm’s China operations, a spokesman said. “The China firm is taking responsibility, treating it as a branch office,” Ms. McKenna said.

HONG KONG, Nov 5 (Reuters) - U.S. audit watchdog's onsite inspection of the audit work of New York-listed Chinese companies, which started in Hong Kong in September, has ended, three people with knowledge of the matter said, raising hopes of a resolution of a long-pending dispute. The inspection started in Hong Kong after the two countries signed a pact in August to resolve a dispute that threatened to exclude more than 200 Chinese companies, including tech giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (9988.HK), from U.S. exchanges. Reuters reported in August that U.S. regulators had picked a number of U.S.-listed Chinese companies, including e-commerce groups Alibaba and Yum China Holdings Inc for onsite audit inspection. U.S. regulators have for more than a decade demanded access to audit papers of U.S.-listed Chinese companies, but Beijing has been reluctant to let U.S. regulators inspect its accounting firms, citing national security concerns. Reporting by Xie Yu and Julie Zhu in Hong Kong; additional reporting by Chris Prentice in Washington; Editing by Sumeet Chatterjee, Louise Heavens and Jane MerrimanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Partner at Accounting Firm Fined for Allegedly Misleading Investigators
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Mark Maurer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +4 min

A partner at accounting firm Spielman Koenigsberg & Parker LLP was fined $150,000 for allegedly misleading investigators, the largest monetary penalty imposed on an individual in a case settled by the U.S. auditing watchdog. The regulator also permanently barred Mr. Taylor from associating with a PCAOB-registered accounting firm. Mr. Taylor became a partner at the firm in 1999, according to the firm’s website. Neither Mr. Taylor nor the firm immediately responded to a request for comment. “The quality control systems at audit firms are fundamental to audit quality and regulatory compliance,” Mark Adler, the acting director of the PCAOB’s division of enforcement and investigations, said in a statement.

"Investors in U.S. markets should be protected — and have trust in a company's financial numbers — regardless of whether an issuer is foreign or domestic." The SEC's enforcement action underscores the need for the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) to be able to inspect Chinese audit firms, Gensler said. PCAOB inspections help identify weaknesses in firms' quality control processes, which were at the center of the SEC enforcement action against Deloitte-China. read moreDeloitte self-reported the violations at its China affiliate to the PCAOB in 2019 upon learning of them, an SEC official said. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by John McCrank; Editing by Chizu NomiyamaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

read moreAbout 10 officials from the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) and the Ministry of Finance (MOF) have arrived in Hong Kong and joined the audit inspection, which started on Monday, three of the people said. However, in a speech on Thursday, PCAOB chair Erica Williams said agency officials had arrived in Hong Kong to begin the inspections. As with all inspections, they will look at factors, including the audits of the selected companies and the overall quality control systems of the audit companies. State-owned China Southern Airlines and data centre company GDS Holdings are among the U.S.-listed Chinese companies for audit inspection in the Asian financial hub, two separate sources said. The onsite inspections by the PCAOB are being conducted in the Hong Kong offices of the selected Chinese companies' audit firms, said two of the sources.

read moreAbout 10 officials from the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) and the Ministry of Finance (MOF) have arrived in Hong Kong and joined the audit inspection, which started on Monday, three of the people said. State-owned China Southern Airlines and data centre company GDS Holdings are among the U.S.-listed Chinese companies for audit inspection in the Asian financial hub, two separate sources said. Reuters reported last month that U.S. regulators had picked a number of U.S.-listed Chinese companies including e-commerce majors Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (9988.HK) and JD.com Inc (9618.HK) for audit inspection. It was not clear whether the Chinese officials would be present for every step of the inspection process with PCAOB representatives. The onsite inspections by the PCAOB are being conducted in the Hong Kong offices of the selected Chinese companies' audit firms, said two of the sources.

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