AuditorRecord

China Securities Regulatory Commission and Ministry of Finance · China

PricewaterhouseCoopers Zhong Tian CPAs (普华永道中天会计师事务所): fine by China Securities Regulatory Commission and Ministry of Finance

Audit or matter: Evergrande Real Estate (2018 to 2020 annual reports and five bond issuances)

Decision date13 September 2024
SanctionFine
Amount as statedCSRC: confiscation of 27.74 million yuan and a fine of 297.4 million yuan (325.14 million yuan total). Ministry of Finance: 116 million yuan in confiscation and fines with a six month business suspension, as reported by Reuters and China Securities Journal, plus a warning and revocation of the Guangzhou branch, as reported by China Securities Journal. The CSRC said the two bodies imposed 441 million yuan in total.
StatusFinal
NetworkPwC

What the regulator found

The CSRC said PwC Zhong Tian issued unqualified audit opinions on Evergrande Real Estate's 2019 and 2020 annual reports and comfort letters for five bond issuances whose documents contained false records, and that it failed to act with due diligence. The CSRC cited unreliable working papers, failed site visit procedures and sample selection that let Evergrande substitute samples. The CSRC said the Ministry of Finance had already suspended the firm's business operations, so it did not impose a separate suspension. Reuters reported that the Ministry of Finance fined the firm 116 million yuan and suspended it for six months. China Securities Journal reported that the Ministry of Finance penalty related to the 2018 audit.1,2,3

Status: Final1,2,3

Sources

  1. China Securities Regulatory Commission, CSRC announcement on penalties against PwC in the Evergrande Real Estate case (13 September 2024)
  2. Reuters via Tiger Brokers, PwC unit suspended for six months in mainland China over Evergrande audit (13 September 2024)
  3. China Securities Journal, China Securities Journal report on Ministry of Finance penalties on PwC Zhong Tian (14 September 2024)