Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is urging the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) to accept only full compliance to the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, emphasizing concerns about Chinese firms ignoring standards and placing Americans in fiscal harm.
On Aug. 26, Chinese and U.S. regulators agreed to a pact allowing Chinese companies to operate on U.S. stock exchanges if Chinese businesses allow U.S. regulators to audit a Chinese company's accounting records. Companies that fail to provide access to accounting records, will be delisted from U.S. stock exchanges.
In a statement released that day, Rubio said it was time to mandate adherence to the law.
“For years Chinese companies ignored our rules while enriching themselves off of U.S. financial markets, exposing Americans to huge amounts of financial risk,” he said. “That day is coming to an end. Either firms listed on U.S. exchanges will provide full transparency to auditors or they will be delisted.
"The Chinese Communist Party now says it will finally allow U.S. auditors to look at their books," he added. "This agreement should be viewed with the highest level of skepticism. We’ve seen this before. China has failed time and time again to uphold its international commitments and cannot be trusted.”
The PCAOB is a nonprofit corporation established by Congress to oversee the audits of public companies in order to protect investors and further the public interest in the preparation of informative, accurate, and independent audit reports. It also oversees the audits of brokers and dealers, including compliance reports filed pursuant to federal securities laws.
The Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act requires certain issuers of securities to establish that they are not owned or controlled by a foreign government. Specifically, an issuer must make this certification if the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board is unable to audit specified reports because the issuer has retained a foreign public accounting firm not subject to inspection by the board.
Furthermore, if the board is unable to inspect the issuer's public accounting firm for three consecutive years, the issuer's securities are banned from trade on a national exchange or through other methods.
Approximately 200 Chinese companies on U.S. stock exchanges must comply or risk being delisted. According to the Securities Exchange Commission, China-based U.S. issuers have a combined market capitalization of between $1 trillion to $2 trillion.
In a statement provided by PCAOD spokesman Kent Bonham, the agency said it appreciated the Florida senator’s statement.
"The PCAOB is grateful to Sen. Rubio and his fellow members of Congress for their leadership in passing the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, and as Chair [Erica] Williams has said many times the PCAOB will demand the complete access the law requires with no loopholes and no exceptions,” Bonham told Globe Banner.
On Aug. 26, PCAOB Chairwoman Erica Williams issued a statement on the agreement.
“The U.S. Congress sent a strong message with the passage of the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act that access to the U.S. capital markets is a privilege, not a right,” Williams said. “The PCAOB has been working to execute our mandate under the law. As part of our ongoing efforts, this morning, the PCAOB signed a statement of protocol with the China Securities Regulatory Commission and the Ministry of Finance of the People’s Republic of China — the first step toward opening access for the PCAOB to inspect and investigate completely registered public accounting firms in mainland China and Hong Kong.
“On paper the agreement signed grants the PCAOB complete access to the audit work papers, audit personnel, and other information we need to inspect and investigate any firm we choose, with no loopholes and no exceptions," she added. "But the real test will be whether the words agreed to on paper translate into complete access in practice. “I [have] directed the PCAOB inspection team to finalize their preparations to be on the ground by mid-September so we can put this agreement to the test."
Rubio said there was no margin for compromise.
“The PCAOB must not accept anything short of full compliance and transparency with U.S. officials. No deviations, no exceptions,” he said. “The livelihood of millions of American retirees, pensioners and other investors is on the line.”