Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act
The Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act is a 2020 law that requires companies publicly listed on stock exchanges in the United States to declare they are not owned or controlled by Chinese government. It amended the Sarbanes–Oxley Act in requiring these companies to disclose to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission information on foreign jurisdictions that prevent the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) from conducting inspections. Such companies will be banned from trading and delisted from exchanges if the PCAOB is not able to audit specified reports for three consecutive years. Background . In 2019, a similar bill titled the EQUITABLE Act was introduced by Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) in the United States Senate over concerns certain foreign companies were non-compliant with oversight and audit rules on American stock exchanges. This was in response to the lack of compliance and transparency among Chinese companies listed on US exchanges, thereby increasing the risk of defrauding investors. The consideration of the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act in Congress coincided with the high-profile financial scandal involving Chinese coffee chain Luckin Coffee, which fired both its CEO and COO in May 2020 for accounting  fraud concerning the intentional fabrication of around $310 million in sales in 2019. This subsequently resulted in Luckin's shares plunging by around 80%. Luckin also received a delisting notice from the Nasdaq stock exchange on May 19, 2020. On June 26, it was confirmed that Luckin would be delisted from the Nasdaq and Luckin's stock saw its last day of trading. Legislative history. On May 20, 2020, the bill passed the United States Senate by unanimous consent. On December 2, 2020, the bill passed the United States House by unanimous voice vote. The bill was signed into  law on December 18, 2020. Implications. As required by the bill, the SEC started publishing in March 2022 a provisional list of foreign issuers that the PCAOB is unable to audit. Days later on 2 April, China Securities Regulatory Commission announced a proposed removal to a requirement that on-site inspections of Chinese companies with foreign listings can only be conducted by Chinese regulatory agencies.