According to sources, Chinese regulators have asked some of the country’s U.S.-listed companies, including Alibaba, Baidu, and JD.com, to prepare for more audit disclosures as Beijing ramps up efforts to keep domestic companies listed in New York.
This comes as China’s regulators consider allowing their US counterparts to inspect audit working papers of some Chinese firms that do not collect sensitive data, according to two sources.
As part of that move, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) and other regulatory agencies summoned top internet companies earlier this month, including search engine leader Baidu Inc and e-commerce behemoth JD.com Inc, according to four sources.
According to the sources, who declined to be identified because they were not permitted to discuss the meeting’s details, they were asked to prepare audit documents for the fiscal year 2021 while keeping in mind U.S. regulators’ requests for more disclosure.
Companies should seek Chinese regulators’ advice if they are “uncertain about anything” during the entire process, which includes auditing and communications with US regulators.
Washington has long demanded access to books of US-listed Chinese companies, but Beijing bars foreign inspection of working papers from local accounting firms. The stand-off has put billions of dollars of investments in Chinese companies at stake.
