Five Chinese companies, including the country’s two largest oil groups, announced they were pulling out of the New York Stock Exchange on Friday.
Sinopec and PetroChina – one of the world’s largest energy groups – have said in separate statements that they will file for a “voluntary exit” from the US stock market.
Similar statements were made by Chinese aluminum companies Chalco, China Life and the Sinopec subsidiary in Shanghai.
Companies in mainland China and Hong Kong are notorious for not submitting their financial statements to US government-approved auditors.
A law passed by the US Congress in 2020 requires any company registered in the United States to have its accounts approved by a company accredited by the Independent Accountability Organization.
In case of non-compliance with the law, companies face the possibility of deregistration from 2024. In this context, five companies have announced their decision to withdraw from it.
He justified his decision by the costs associated with maintaining the registration in the US, as well as the burden of compliance with audit obligations.
These five groups are on the list of companies ordered by the US market regulator to comply with imposed accounting obligations and were effectively threatened with delisting from the New York Stock Exchange.
