The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), the US government’s audit regulator, has sanctioned Acquavella Chiarelli Shuster Berkower & Co, a New Jersey firm, saying it had not correctly audited companies from China and Hong Kong, The Wall Street Journal reported. According to the PCAOB, Acquavella Chiarelli failed to adequately plan its audits of Universal Travel Group and Home System Group, two Chinese companies, and Sinocom Pharmaceutical of Hong Kong. The PCAOB has barred the firm from auditing companies for at least two years and has fined it US$10,000.