Company: ATMCW
Filing Date: 2025-11-17
Form Type: DEFM14A
Source: 0001493152-25-023842
Chunk: 119

Company: ALPHATIME ACQUISITION CORP
Filing Date: 2025-11-17
Form: DEFM14A
Chunk 119
---
 firms headquartered in mainland China or Hong Kong.

On June 22, 2021, the U.S. Senate passed the Accelerating Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, and on December 29, 2022, legislation entitled “Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023” (the “ Consolidated Appropriations Act”) was signed into law by President Biden, which contained, among other things, an identical provision to the Accelerating Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act and amended the HFCAA by requiring the SEC to prohibit an issuer’s securities from trading on any U.S stock exchanges if its auditor is not subject to PCAOB inspections for two consecutive years instead of three, thus reducing the time period for triggering the prohibition on trading.

Pursuant to the HCFAA, as amended by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, if the PCAOB is unable to inspect an issuer’s auditors for two consecutive years, the issuer’s securities are prohibited to trade on a U.S. stock exchange. The PCAOB issued a Determination Report on December 16, 2021 (the “ Determination Report”) which found that the PCAOB is unable to inspect or investigate completely registered public accounting firms headquartered in: (1) mainland China of the People’s Republic of China because of a position taken by one or more authorities in mainland China; and (2) Hong Kong, a Special Administrative Region and dependency of the PRC, because of a position taken by one or more authorities in Hong Kong. Furthermore, the Determination Report identified the specific registered public accounting firms which are subject to these determinations (“ PCAOB Identified Firms”).

| 67 |

On August 26, 2022, the PCAOB announced that it had signed a Statement of Protocol (the “ Protocol”) with the CSRC and the Ministry of Finance (“ MOF”) of the People’s Republic of China, governing inspections and investigations of audit firms based in mainland China and Hong Kong. Pursuant to the Protocol, the PCAOB conducted inspections on select registered public accounting firms subject to the Determination Report in Hong Kong between September and November 2022.

On December 15, 2022, the PCAOB board announced that it has completed the inspections, determined that it had complete access to inspect or investigate completely registered public accounting firms headquartered in mainland China and Hong Kong, and voted to vacate the Determination Report.

On December 29, 2022, the Accelerating Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, or the AHFCAA