Yahoo Finance on 22.5.2020 reported the following:
Senate moves to delist Chinese companies from US stock
exchanges
Ben Werschkul Thu,
May 21 4:48 AM GMT+8
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The Senate passed a bill by unanimous
consent on Wednesday to take on Chinese companies listed on U.S. exchanges.
The legislation
would require the companies to submit to a range of stringent provisions to
avoid being booted.
First, they must disclose whether they are owned or
controlled by a foreign government. Second, and perhaps most intrusively, they
would have to comply with audits from the Public Company Accounting Oversight
Board (PCAOB) for three years in a row.
“We just
want Chinese companies to play by the same rules as everybody else,” said Sen.
Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) during an appearance on Yahoo Finance shortly after the
bill passed (video above). “This is an important step forward for
transparency,” he said.
Van Hollen has led the effort, known
as the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, along with Sen. John Kennedy
(R-LA). A mix of other senators like Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, Bob Menendez
of New Jersey and Marco Rubio of Florida are co-sponsors.
Currently, companies
registered in China and Hong Kong are not subject to PCAOB audits.
A group known as the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review
Commission has compiled a list of 156 Chinese companies that are currently
listed on the biggest three U.S. stock exchanges. The list includes giants like
Alibaba (BABA), Baidu (BIDU) and JD.com (JD).
Van Hollen says the
legislation is “designed to protect investors” because the lack of transparency
among Chinese companies “exposes American investors to unnecessary risks.”
“It’s asinine that we’re giving
Chinese companies the opportunity to exploit hardworking Americans” added
Senator Kennedy in a statement.
Washington itching to take on China
The bill’s fate is uncertain as it
still needs to pass the House of Representatives and be signed into law by
Trump, but it comes at a time when Washington appears more primed to take on
China and Chinese institutions in the wake of their perceived mishandling of
the coronavirus.
GOP lawmakers,
including Senators Josh Hawley and Tom Cotton, have proposed a range of
punishments for the country. From having China “pay back all nations impacted”
to forgiving U.S. debt to sanctioning Chinese officials.
Washington officials are also in a
tense standoff with Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei, including recent
Commerce Department efforts to expand sanctions against the company.
White House economic
adviser Larry Kudlow recently expressed support for some of the ideas in
Kennedy and Van Hollen’s bill. In an interview Tuesday on Fox, the White House
economic adviser pushed for more accountability from Chinese companies listed
in U.S. markets. “We have to,” he said, “for investor protection and we have to
for national security.”
Some Chinese companies “are operating against our own
interests,” Kudlow said.
President Trump has also signaled a rethinking of U.S.-China
relations overall. This week he even called into question the trade deal
enacted with much fanfare in January, saying, “I feel differently now about
that deal than I did three months ago,” adding “and we’ll see what all
happens.”
Translation
參議院星期三一致通過一項法案，去抗衡在美國交易所上市的中國公司。
立法將要求公司遵守一系列嚴格的規定，以免被毫不客氣地被迫離開。
首先，他們必須披露自己是外國政府所有還是由外國政府控制。其次，也許是最具侵入性的是，他們必須連續三年遵守上市公司會計監督委員會（PCAOB）的審計。
法案通過後不久，參議員克里斯·範·霍倫（Chris
Van Hollen）（D-MD）在出席雅虎財經視頻時說：“我們只希望中國公司遵守與其他所有人相同的規則（上述視頻）。他說又：“為了提高透明度這是重要的一步。”
範·霍倫（Van
Hollen）與參議員約翰·肯尼迪（R-LA）共同領導了這項名為“持有外國公司責任法案”的工作。其他共同贊助參議員包括北達科他州的凱文·克萊默，新澤西州的鮑勃·梅嫩德斯和佛羅里達州的馬克羅·魯比奧。
目前，在中國和香港註冊的公司是不受PCAOB審核。
由美中經濟與安全審查委員會組成的組織編制了一份清單，列出了目前在美國三大證券交易所上市的156家中國公司，其中包括阿里巴巴（BABA），百度（BIDU）及京東 (JD）等巨頭。
範·霍倫（Van
Hollen）說，這項立法“旨在保護投資者”，因為中國公司之間缺乏透明度“使美國投資者面臨不必要的風險。”
肯尼迪參議員在一份聲明中補充說：“我們給中國公司一個機會來剝削勤奮的美國人是愚蠢的。”
華盛頓渴望與中國抗衡
該法案的命運尚不確定，因為它仍然需要通過眾議院並由特朗普簽署成為法律，但在這時刻,
在意識到中國對冠狀病毒處理不當之後,
華盛頓似乎更準備好抗衡對中國和中國的機構。
共和黨議員，包括參議員喬什·霍利和湯姆·科頓，都對該國提出了一系列懲罰措施，包括需要中國“償還所有受影響的國家”到免去美國的債務,
及製裁中國官員。
華盛頓官員還與中國電信巨頭華為正處於緊張對峙狀態，其中包括美國商務部最近擴大對華製裁的努力。
白宮經濟顧問拉里·庫德洛（Larry
Kudlow）最近表示支持肯尼迪和範霍倫法案中的一些想法。在周二接受福克斯(Fox) 採訪時，白宮經濟顧問要求在美國市場上市的中國公司承擔更多責任。他說：“為了保護投資者我們必須這樣，為了維護國家安全我們必須這樣。”
庫德洛說，一些中國公司“正在損害我們自己的利益”。
特朗普總統還暗示了對整體的美中關係重新思考。本週，他甚至對一月份大張旗鼓地簽署的貿易協議提出了質疑。他說：“我現在對這筆交易的感覺已與三個月前不同。” “我們將看看會發生什麼。”
So, President Trump is going to rethink about
the overall U.S.-China relations, and more tension might be expected.
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