Gold News

Can Chinese Stocks Be Trusted If They're Listed int he US?

A standoff between the big four auditors and the SEC raises some interesting points...

AT FIRST GLANCE, Chinese stocks that trade on US exchanges look dirt cheap, writes Martin Hutchinson for Money Morning.

But the truth is you need to take a long hard look before you leap.

Behind the curtain you could find that they've cooked the books. 

In fact, last week, the US Securities and Exchange Commission accused the Chinese affiliates of "the Big Four" auditing companies of breaking securities laws after they refused to produce the "work papers" related to accounting fraud investigations at nine Chinese companies. 

Naturally, they all cried foul. 

According to auditors from Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers producing this paperwork is illegal under Chinese law-hence the stalemate. 

It's a dispute that highlights the cultural clash between the Chinese need for secrecy and US anti-fraud efforts that demand more transparency. 

The bottom line in this case, though, is quite a bit more simple: If there's no way to ensure the accounting practices at Chinese companies are candid, investors should completely avoid them. 

Whether it's here or abroad, you should never invest in anything where you can't trust the numbers. 

Chinese small caps are just the latest example now that this brewing accounting scandal seems to be coming to a head. The SEC has filed fraud allegations against 40 individuals or companies.

The boom in Chinese companies listing on the US markets began in 2006, and at first appeared attractive to both sides. 

China was the world's greatest growth economy. With lots of fast-growing small companies, US investors saw Chinese companies as a way to tap into that growth. Valuations were attractive, and by 2010 over 600 Chinese companies had done a US financing, either through an IPO or through a "reverse merger" into a US shell company.

Some of these companies, such as Baidu, the Chinese equivalent of Google, appear to have been solid. Indeed, Baidu's net income is expected to rise about 60% this year. 

What's more, even with the accounting scandals, the total market capitalization of Chinese ADRs remains close to $1 trillion. 

But once the first small-cap Chinese company, Sino Forest, was shown to have falsified its accounts, market doubt spread like wildfire and the share prices of many small Chinese companies collapsed. 

Since then, 50 China-based companies have been delisted from US exchanges, whereas others can be bought for a small fraction of net asset value and at a 1-2 times multiple of earnings -- if the net asset values and earnings are correct.

When trouble first appeared, investors relied on the companies' auditors – after all if KPMG, Deloitte or one of the other "Big 4" accounting firms had audited the figures, they could be assumed to be correct, right? 

That meant the doubts were concentrated on Chinese companies with second-tier auditors, and you had the amazing spectacle of Chinese companies chasing round after new auditors every year, with each auditor resigning as soon as he faced the daunting task of preparing accounts that would satisfy the SEC.

However, it has become increasingly clear that "Big 4" accountants are little protection to the Western investor. 

While their Chinese affiliates are nominally in partnership with the rest of the global practice, in reality they are subject to political pressures in China that are impenetrable to outsiders. 

As the recent hoo-hah has shown, when they are given the choice between offending some bigwig in China's Communist Party hierarchy and offending the SEC – which can do little to force compliance provided the auditors do not personally set foot in the United States – even the best Chinese auditor will always choose his local business.

The problem is that China itself remains a pretty corrupt society, ranked 80th of 176 countries on Transparency International's 2012 Corruption Perceptions Index. 

While this still ranks it well ahead of India (94th) – let alone Russia (a startling 133rd) – it indicates the country is a difficult place to do business, and that distant US investors may rank bottom on the list of forces which have to be placated.

China is not likely to allow the SEC proper access to the work of Chinese auditors – for one thing, a matter of sovereignty is involved. 

Hence, in the long run we may well find Chinese companies de-listing from the US or perhaps engaged in leveraged buyouts to eliminate the international investors. After all, if an honest and profitable company finds its shares consistently trade at half net asset value or less, there's not much to gain from a US listing.

Get the safest gold at the lowest price on BullionVault...

Now a contributing editor to both the Money Map Report and Money Morning, the much-respected free daily advisory service, Martin Hutchinson is an investment banker with more than 25 years’ experience. A graduate of Cambridge and Harvard universities, he moved from working on Wall Street and in the City, as well as in Spain and South Korea, to helping the governments of Bulgaria, Croatia and Macedonia establish their Treasury bond markets in the late '90s. Business and Economics Editor at United Press International from 2000-4, and a BreakingViews editor since 2006, Hutchinson is also author of the closely-followed Bear's Lair column at the Prudent Bear website.

See full archive of Martin Hutchinson.

Please Note: All articles published here are to inform your thinking, not lead it. Only you can decide the best place for your money, and any decision you make will put your money at risk. Information or data included here may have already been overtaken by events – and must be verified elsewhere – should you choose to act on it. Please review our Terms & Conditions for accessing Gold News.

Follow Us

Facebook Youtube Twitter LinkedIn

 

 

Market Fundamentals