SEC行政诉讼案威胁中概股在美前景

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's high-profile attack on the Chinese affiliates of five major accounting firms calls into question the future of China-based companies listing on the U.S. stock exchanges at a time when accounting scandals have eroded investor appetite for these companies.

美国证券交易委员会(Securities and Exchange Commission，简称: SEC)高调对五大会计师事务所的中国合作所发动攻势。在投资者对中国概念股的兴趣已因会计丑闻而遭削弱之际，此举让人对中国公司在美国交易所上市的前景产生怀疑。

The SEC's decision Monday to bring an administrative proceeding against the accounting firms, alleging they refused to hand over documents sought in investigations of suspected accounting frauds at nine Chinese companies, deals a blow to China-based companies already listed in the U.S. as well as those looking to raise capital in the country.

SEC周一决定对这些会计师事务所提起行政诉讼，指控它们在SEC调查九家中国公司会计欺诈嫌疑期间拒绝提交要求它们提交的文件。这一决定对已经在美国上市的中国公司以及希望在美国融资的中国公司都是一个打击。

The regulatory action will put a 'further damper on Chinese listings in the United States,' said Rocky Lee, a Hong Kong- and Beijing-based partner at the law firm Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft, which does due diligence on Chinese assets for foreign institutional investors.

凯威莱德律师事务所(Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft)驻香港及北京合伙人李大诚(Rocky Lee)说，监管机构的这次诉讼将进一步打击赴美上市的中国公司。凯威莱德为外国机构投资者做中国资产的尽职调查。

It also significantly increases the chances that China-based firms whose American depositary receipts trade on the U.S. exchanges will be delisted, if regulators in the U.S. and China can't reach an agreement over the disclosure of information, according to Paul Gillis, an accounting professor at Peking University's Guanghua School of Management in Beijing.

北京大学光华管理学院会计学教授吉利斯(Paul Gillis)说，如果美国和中国监管机构在信息披露方面不能达成一致，对于在美国交易所有美国存托凭证(ADR)交易的中国公司来说，被摘牌的可能性也将大大增加。

'I'm not optimistic that a solution is reachable,' Mr. Gillis said. 'The biggest loser if it goes down this road is the American exchanges because it makes the U.S. a much less attractive place to raise capital.'

吉利斯说，是否能找到解决方案，我不太乐观；如果继续这样下去，最大的输家将是美国交易所，因为这将使美国作为融资地点的吸引力大大减弱。

Dozens of Chinese companies have raised billions of dollars in the past decade listing their shares on U.S. and Canadian exchanges, before their share prices plummeted following questions about their bookkeeping and disclosures. The 110 largest Chinese ADRs listed in the U.S. have a market cap of $998 billion and average daily turnover of $1.29 billion, according to Macquarie Securities.

过去10年有数十家中国公司在美国和加拿大的交易所上市，融资数十亿美元，后来这些公司因为会计方法和信息披露问题遭到质疑，其股价大幅下跌。麦格理证券(Macquarie Securities)的数据显示，110只最大的中国公司ADR的总市值为9,980亿美元，平均日成交量12.9亿美元。

The SEC action, if an administrative law judge rules in its favor, could lead to the Big Four accounting firms' Chinese affiliates being barred from auditing U.S.-traded companies─something that could complicate the audits of multinational companies doing business in China. The regulatory moves also stand to heighten a U.S.-China confrontation over how much U.S. officials can do to ensure that Chinese audit firms adhere to U.S. regulatory standards.

如果行政法官裁决SEC胜诉，那么“四大会计师事务所的中国合作所可能就会被禁止审计在美国上市的公司，这样一来，就有可能给在华经商的跨国公司的审计带来困难。另外在美国官员为保证中国审计机构遵守美国监管规则可以采取哪些措施的问题上，中美之间的冲突也有可能因为美国的这些动作而进一步加剧。

'It definitely is ratcheting up the pressure another notch,' said Jack Ciesielski, publisher of the Analyst's Accounting Observer.

《分析师会计观察》(Analyst's Accounting Observer)发行人切谢尔斯基(Jack Ciesielski)说，此举肯定会再次将压力提升一个层次。

Chinese audit clients paid the local affiliates of the Big Four $175.2 million in fees in fiscal 2011, according to figures compiled by Audit Analytics, a consulting firm.

据咨询公司Audit Analytics收集的数据显示，2011财年，中国审计客户向“四大在华合作所支付了1.752亿美元的费用。

U.S. regulators have attempted to investigate alleged fraud at some Chinese companies, and the SEC has filed several lawsuits. But they have been unable to get information from the China-based firms that audit many of these companies, including Chinese affiliates of the Big Four─Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young and KPMG.

美国监管机构一直试图调查一些中资公司被指存在的欺诈行为，SEC还提出了数桩诉讼案。但它们一直无法从那些对其中很多公司进行审计的在华机构获取信息，包括“四大中国合作所。“四大指的是德勤(Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu)、普华永道(PricewaterhouseCoopers)、安永(Ernst & Young)和毕马威(KPMG)。

SEC Commissioner Luis Aguilar said in a speech Monday that the agency is investigating 'accounting irregularities at dozens of China-based companies that are publicly traded in the United States,' and that some of the probes 'have been hampered by the lack of access to relevant documents.'

SEC专员阿奎拉(Luis Aguilar)周一在演讲中说，该机构正在调查数十家在美上市中资公司的会计违规行为，其中一些调查因难以获得相关文件而受阻。

The SEC maintains that firms that audit U.S.-traded companies have to follow U.S. law, and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires foreign audit firms to hand over documents about U.S.-listed clients at the SEC's request.

SEC坚称，负责审计在美上市公司的机构必须遵守美国法律，按照《萨班斯-奥克斯利法案》(Sarbanes-Oxley Act)的规定，在SEC的要求下，外国审计机构必须提交有关在美上市客户的文件。

The firms counter that China's laws treat their auditing documents as akin to state secrets, and that their auditors could be thrown in jail if they turn the documents over to the SEC without permission.

审计机构反驳说，中国的法律将审计文件视为类似于国家机密的信息，如果审计机构在未获得批准的情况下将文件交给SEC，其审计人员可能被判入监狱。

'While it is unfortunate that the two countries have not yet been able to find common ground on these issues, we remain hopeful that a diplomatic agreement can be reached, and we stand ready to assist that effort in any way we can,' Deloitte said.

德勤说：很遗憾，中美两国尚未在这些问题上达成共识，但我们仍对通过外交途径达成协议持乐观态度，我们愿意尽可能地提供协助。

PricewaterhouseCoopers said its Chinese affiliate 'has cooperated with the SEC at every opportunity,' but 'PwC China will, and must, comply with its legal obligations under China law.' The fact that the action is against all the major firms 'demonstrates that this is a profession-wide issue, not unique to one firm,' and should be resolved by negotiations between U.S. and Chinese regulators, PwC said.

普华永道说，其中国合作所一直在尽全力与SEC进行合作，但普华永道中国公司会遵守、也必须遵守中国法律规定的法律义务。普华永道说，诉讼针对所有主要审计机构，这个事实显示出，这是一个全行业的问题，并不仅限于某一家机构，这个问题应该通过中美监管机构之间协商加以解决。

KPMG's China affiliate said in a statement that it is 'hopeful' that discussions between U.S. and Chinese regulators 'will result in a positive diplomatic resolution' to the matter.

毕马威中国合作所在一份声明中说，相信中美监管机构之间的协商将就这一问题达成积极的外交解决方案，它对此抱有希望。

Ernst & Young Hua Ming said it 'supports close working relationships' with regulators and that it hopes 'an agreement can be reached between U.S. and Chinese regulators that will enable our compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.'

安永华明说：支持与监管机构的密切合作关系，希望中美监管机构之间能够达成协议，使我们在各种适用的法律和规定上都能够合规。

The commission's administrative proceeding against the China affiliates of the big accounting firms, plus the China affiliate of second-tier firm BDO, alleges that they haven't handed over documents for nine of their Chinese audit clients who are under SEC investigation for potential fraud. The nine companies weren't identified.

SEC对“四大中国合作所及二线机构德豪(BDO)在华合作所提出的行政诉讼中称，它们一直未提交九家中国审计客户的相关文件，这九家公司目前正在因可能的欺诈行为而受到SEC的调查。这九家公司的名字未被披露。

BDO referred questions about the case to its Chinese affiliate, which hasn't commented.

德豪将有关此案的问题转至其中国合作所，后者尚未置评。

The SEC had previously filed two cases against Deloitte's Chinese affiliate over the same issue, but Deloitte hasn't handed over the requested documents. One case has been suspended while the SEC attempts to negotiate with Chinese regulators, according to court documents.

SEC此前曾因同一问题对德勤中国合作所提起两次诉讼，但德勤并没有交出SEC要求的文件。法庭文件显示，其中一宗诉讼在SEC试图和中国监管机构谈判期间被暂时搁置。

An SEC administrative law judge will hear the commission's cases against the China-based accounting firms. If the judge decides against the firms, they could be suspended from seeking new U.S.-traded clients, or even blocked entirely from auditing U.S.-traded companies.

一名SEC行政法法官将审理SEC诉会计师事务所中国合作所的案件。如果法官作出不利于这些审计机构的决定，那么它们将被暂时禁止寻找新的在美上市公司客户，甚至可能被完全禁止从事在美上市公司的审计工作。

Separately, in Canada, Ernst & Young agreed to pay $117.8 million to settle separate shareholder allegations that it misled investors of Sino-Forest Corp., a timber company that filed for bankruptcy protection this year amid questions about its disclosures. The settlement disclosed Monday was the largest ever by an auditor in Canadian history, a plaintiff's attorney said. Ernst & Young didn't admit wrongdoing in the settlement, which must still be approved by the bankruptcy court.

此外在加拿大，安永同意支付1.178亿美元的和解费。此前有股东指控说，安永在嘉汉林业(Sino-Forest Corp.)这家公司的问题上误导投资者。在外界关于其信息披露的一片质疑声中，木材公司嘉汉林业今年申请破产保护。一名原告律师说，周一披露的金额是加拿大历史上一家审计机构迄今为止支付的最高一笔和解费。在和解过程中安永并不承认自己存在违法行为。和解方案仍需得到破产法院的审批。

The Ontario Securities Commission alleges Ernst & Young didn't exercise enough skepticism in verifying the ownership and major assets of Sino-Forest. According to the commission, for instance, one Ernst & Young auditor in its Canadian affiliate acknowledged in an email to another auditor that the firm had no way of knowing that the trees the audit firm was inspecting were actually owned by Sino-Forest: 'I believe they could show us trees anywhere and we would not know the difference.' In addition, the commission said, several of Ernst & Young's senior partners at the affiliate involved in auditing Sino-Forest couldn't read or speak Chinese.

安大略省证券委员会(Ontario Securities Commission)指控安永在核实嘉汉林业所有权和主要资产时没有持必要的怀疑态度。比如，该委员会指出，安永加拿大合作所的一名审计人员在写给另一名审计人员的电子邮件中承认，安永无从知道其正在核实的树木是否真的为嘉汉林业所有。这名审计人员说：我相信他们随便找个地方的树木给我们看，我们也不知道其中的差别。此外该委员会还说，参与嘉汉林业审计的安永加拿大合作所的多位高级合伙人看不懂中文，也不会说中文。

Ernst & Young's Canadian affiliate said it was 'confident' its Sino-Forest work had met all standards and that the firm 'did extensive audit work to verify ownership and existence of Sino-Forest's timber assets.'

安永加拿大合作所说，其对嘉汉林业的审计工作符合所有标准，为了核实嘉汉林业的所有权及其林木资产，安永做了大量审计工作。对此安永表示“很有信心。

Ernst & Young said its settlement with shareholders 'is without admission of liability' and 'will reduce the uncertainty and future burden on our business, and allow us to focus on our people and our clients.'

安永表示，其与股东的和解“并不表示安永承认自己负有法律责任。和解“将消除不确定性，减少安永业务在未来可能背负的负担，让安永得以将精力集中于员工和客户。

Sino-Forest was one of the largest forest-product companies listed in Canada when a report last year by U.S. short-seller Muddy Waters LLC alleged fraud at the company. Since then, the Ontario Securities Commission has started administrative proceedings against Sino-Forest, and several of its former executives already face allegations from the commission that they inflated timber purchases; the company is currently trying to restructure under bankruptcy protection. Sino-Forest last year conducted an internal investigation into the allegations, but executives have denied fraud.

去年美国做空机构Muddy Waters LLC发布报告称嘉汉林业涉嫌欺诈时，该公司是在加拿大上市的大型林产品企业之一。从那时起，安大略省证券委员会展开了对嘉汉林业的行政听证程序，该公司多位前任高管已经面临该委员会的指控，指控称他们夸大了木材采购量。嘉汉林业目前正试图在破产保护下进行重组。该公司曾于去年对前述指控展开内部调查，但公司高管否认存在欺诈行为。