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SEC’s Gensler says it’s unclear if US and China will reach a deal to avoid stock delistings

  • Chinese companies face a 2024 deadline of being kicked off American stock exchanges for lack of access to audit work papers
  • SEC has started adding companies on a provisional list amid measures in Congress to speed up compliance

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Gensler says it’s up to Beijing to grant access to US audit inspectors. Photo: Bloomberg
Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler says it is unclear if American and Chinese authorities will reach a deal to avoid the delisting of some 200 companies from US stock exchanges.
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Gensler said on Tuesday that it is ultimately Beijing’s decision whether to grant access to American audit inspectors as required by US law, adding that talks between the two sides had been “constructive.”

“I just really don’t know right now” over the prospects of reaching a deal, he said in an interview. “It’s going to be choices made by the authorities there.”

The clock is ticking to avoid a congressionally-imposed deadline of 2024 for kicking businesses off the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Stock Market unless American regulators get full access to inspect their audit work papers.

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The US and China have been at odds for two decades over the legal requirement, which is meant to protect investors from accounting frauds and other financial malfeasance. The 2024 deadline stems from a 2020 law called the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act that was popular with both Democrats and Republicans.

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