On December 10, 2018, Representative K. Michael Conway introduced H.R. 7234, a new bill entitled “Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act” that seeks to amend the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. The bill requires each “covered issuer” to disclose annually to the SEC the (1) provisions of laws or rules in foreign jurisdictions that prevent the PCAOB from performing its inspections of auditors located in such foreign jurisdictions and (2) date when such provisions no longer prevent said PCAOB inspections. A “covered issuer” is a reporting company with a registered public accounting firm that (i) is located in a foreign jurisdiction and (ii) the PCAOB is unable to inspect because of the applicability of laws or rules of such foreign jurisdiction. If the PCAOB is prevented from carrying out an inspection of the auditor for three consecutive years, the SEC is authorized to prohibit the covered issuer’s securities from being traded on a national securities exchange, unless such covered issuer certifies to the SEC that it will retain a registered public accounting firm that the PCAOB is able to inspect.
The bill follows a joint statement issued earlier this month by SEC Chairman Jay Clayton, SEC Chief Accountant Wes Bricker and PCAOB Chairman William Duhnke that highlighted the significant challenges the SEC and the PCAOB currently face in overseeing the financial reporting for U.S.-listed companies whose operations are based in China. See our earlier post on this topic here.
A copy of H.R. 7234 is available here.