Five Chinese companies, including the country’s two largest oil groups, announced on Friday that they were pulling out of the New York Stock Exchange in the US.
Sinopec and PetroChina, one of the world’s largest energy groups, have said in separate statements that they will file for a “voluntary exit” from the US stock market.
Similar announcements were made by Chinese aluminum companies Chalco, China Life and a subsidiary of Sinopec based in Shanghai.
Companies in mainland China and Hong Kong are notorious for not submitting their financial statements to US government-approved auditors.
A law passed by the US Congress in 2020 requires any company registered in the United States to have its accounts approved by a company accredited by the Independent Accountability Organization.
In case of non-compliance with the law, companies face deregistration from 2024. In this context, five companies have announced their decision to withdraw.
He justified his decision by the costs associated with maintaining registration in the United States, as well as the burden of meeting audit obligations.
These five groups are on the list of companies ordered by the US market regulator to comply with imposed accounting obligations and were effectively threatened with delisting from the New York Stock Exchange.
Source: AFP.