美国上市公司会计监督委员会（PCAOB）与中国当局签署协议，PCAOB得以迈出具备完整权限的第一步，在中国进行选择、检查和调查
威廉姆斯主席强调协议只是第一步，表示PCAOB现在必须对之加以考验，才能在十二月做出裁决
2022年8月26日
 
华盛顿特区—在美国上市公司会计监督委员会（PCAOB）与中国证券监督管理委员会和中华人民共和国财政部签署合作检查协议之后，其为PCAOB迈出开展权限的第一步，让其得以对总部设于中国内地和香港的注册公共会计师事务所，进行与美国法律一致的完整检查和调查，PCAOB主席艾丽卡·Y·威廉姆斯今天发表以下声明。
威廉姆斯主席表示：
“美国国会借着通过《外国公司问责法》传递一个强烈的讯息，即进入美国资本市场是一项殊荣，不是权利。
“PCAOB向来努力执行法律对我们的授权。
“作为我们持续努力的一部分，今晨，PCAOB与中国证券监督管理委员会和中华人民共和国财政部签署合作检查协议，PCAOB得以迈出开展权限的第一步，对总部设于中国内地和香港的注册公共会计师事务所，进行完整检查和调查。
“在纸上，今天所签署的协议，授予PCAOB完全的权限，在我们所选择检查和调查的任何事务所中，无论是审计底稿、审计人员和其他我们所需的信息，不能有任何漏洞和例外。但是真正的考验将是，纸上所同意的文字，是否在实践中真能化为完全的权限。
“今天，我指示PCAOB的检查团队，敲定他们的准备工作，以便在九月中旬抵达，好让我们来考验本协议。
“合作检查协议在三个重要方面授与PCAOB完全的权限：
“现在我们将会知道这些承诺是否会得到兑现。
“我们全心投入的专业团队数个月来为了此刻，准备已久，而且已整装待发将快速、但彻底地进行我们的检查和调查。我们的团队是否能够不受阻挠完成工作，将会影响到今年年底PCAOB的裁决。
“虽然我们尚有很多待做的工作，但是如果不是美国国会的努力，我们便不可能有今天的进展。我感谢当PCAOB继续执行法律的同时，国会议员持续不断的领导。
“我要感谢詹斯勒主席和证券交易委员会（SEC）在这整段过程中支持PCAOB的努力，以及感谢我们才华洋溢的PCAOB工作人员，那些努力不懈终于促成今天的协议的人员，以及那些接下来的工作将对协议进行考验的人员。
“现在我们将继续，本着PCAOB从事任何工作的宗旨：保护投资者。说到底，就是为了这一点。”
PCAOB在世界上50多个司法辖区检查和调查注册公共会计师事务所，其与《萨班斯-奥克斯利法案》的授权一致。
但是，十几年来，PCAOB对中国内地和香港的注册公共会计师事务所的检查和调查受到百般阻挠。
2020年，国会通过《外国公司问责法》（HFCAA）。根据该法，自2021年起，如果PCAOB的裁决连续三年认定在中华人民共和国的当局所采取的立场，妨碍PCAOB完整检查和调查中国内地和香港的注册公共会计师事务所，由这些事务所审计的企业将被禁止在美国市场交易。
这类的交易禁令由SEC来执行，将适用于SEC认定连续三年聘用在中国内地和香港的注册公共会计师事务所的企业。
2021年，PCAOB做出裁决,中国当局所采取的立场使得PCAOB无法在中国内地和香港进行完整的检查和调查。
PCAOB现在必须要在2022年年底之前，重新评估其裁决。
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PCAOB Chair Williams Statement Regarding Agreement with Chinese Authorities
 
Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) Chair Erica Y. Williams released the following statement today after 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 registered public accounting firms headquartered in mainland China and Hong Kong completely, consistent with U.S. law.
From Chair Williams:
“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.
“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 today 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. But the real test will be whether the words agreed to on paper translate into complete access in practice.
“Today, I 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.
“The Statement of Protocol grants the PCAOB complete access in three important ways:
“Now we will find out whether those promises hold up.
“Our dedicated teams of professionals have been preparing for this moment for months, and they are ready to work swiftly, but thoroughly, to carry out our inspections and investigations. Whether our teams are able to complete that work without obstruction will inform the PCAOB’s determinations at the end of this year.
“While we have much more work to do, we would never have gotten to where we are today without the work of the U.S. Congress, and I am grateful to Members of Congress for their ongoing leadership as the PCAOB continues our work to carry out the law.
“I want to thank my fellow PCAOB Board Members, Chair Gensler and the Securities and Exchange Commission for their support of the PCAOB’s efforts throughout this process, and our talented PCAOB staff – those who worked tirelessly to get to today’s agreement and those whose continued efforts will put it to the test.
“Now our work continues, guided by the same mission that guides everything we do at the PCAOB: protecting investors. That is what this is all about.”
The PCAOB inspects and investigates registered public accounting firms in more than 50 jurisdictions around the world, consistent with its mandate under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
But, for more than a decade, the PCAOB’s access to inspect and investigate registered public accounting firms in mainland China and Hong Kong has been obstructed.
In 2020, Congress passed the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (HFCAA). Under the HFCAA, beginning with 2021, after three consecutive years of PCAOB determinations that positions taken by authorities in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) obstructed the PCAOB’s ability to inspect and investigate registered public accounting firms in mainland China and Hong Kong completely, the companies audited by those firms would be subject to a trading prohibition on U.S. markets.
Such a trading prohibition would be carried out by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and would apply to companies the SEC identifies as having used registered public accounting firms in mainland China and Hong Kong for three consecutive years.
In 2021, the PCAOB made determinations that the positions taken by PRC authorities prevented the PCAOB from inspecting and investigating in mainland China and Hong Kong completely.
The PCAOB is now required to reassess its determinations by the end of 2022.