Wall Street Journal (February 27)
“Tens of billions of dollars in U.S. market value have disappeared in recent years as more than 170 U.S.-listed Chinese companies have faced scrutiny for embezzlement, theft, misrepresentation and other alleged abuses.” Regrettably, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has caved-in on tighter inspections, deciding “not to suspend the Chinese audit firms or penalize them beyond token fines of $500,000.” As a result, U.S. investors “still lack basic protections against Chinese fraudsters” while Chinese authorities “remain as free as ever to stymie future investigations.” Furthermore, the SEC’s lack of spine increases “China’s rising confidence that it can play by its own rules.”
Tags: Abuses, Audit firms, Embezzlement, Inspections, Investors, Market value, Misrepresentation, Rules, SEC, Theft, U.S.-listed Chinese companies