Chinese accounting regulators to visit US counterparts

A delegation of Chinese regulators will travel to Washington, DC in October to participate in ongoing talks on allowing US inspectors to scrutinize Chinese audit firms, the Wall Street Journal reported. Chinese officials have so far not allowed officials from the US Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, which monitors compliance and practices at companies that audit firms listed on US exchanges, into the country to inspect Chinese auditors. The issue has come to the forefront after a spate of dodgy accounting practices by US-listed Chinese firms emerged this year. James Doty, chairman of the board, has called the lack of US oversight of Chinese audit companies “a gaping hole in investor protection.”