US SEC charges affiliates of top accounting firms

The Securities and Exchange Commission began proceedings against the Chinese affiliates of Deloitte, KPMG, PricewaterhouseCoopers, BDO and Ernst & Young. It was the SEC's widest enforcement effort yet to procure documents in connection with probes of possible accounting fraud of US-listed Chinese companies, and raised questions about whether talks have stalled between the US and Chinese governments to resolve the issue. The SEC said it has been seeking documents related to investigations of possible wrongdoing at nine China-based companies. Chinese secrecy laws have stymied efforts to obtain audit documents that investigators need to determine whether there were accounting irregularities.

An administrative law judge will schedule a hearing to determine potential sanctions against the Chinese arms of the accounting firms, the SEC said.

It was unclear whether the SEC's new posture will result in financial penalties and discourage the firms from working with certain Chinese companies, or if the move was designed to force a breakthrough in the larger negations.

In July, the SEC disclosed it was in discussions with Chinese regulators on cross-border cooperation, including access to documents. The Monday action suggests those talks have not progressed to the SEC's satisfaction.

"Firms that conduct audits knowing they cannot comply with laws requiring access to these work papers face serious sanctions," SEC enforcement director Robert Khuzami said in a statement announcing the action.

The accounting firms pinned the blame

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