Administrative Law Judge Temporarily Bars Chinese Affiliates of “Big Four” Auditing Firms From Practice
On January 22, 2014, U.S. Administrative Law Judge Cameron Elliott issued an initial decision censuring the Chinese affiliates of Ernst & Young, KPMG, Deloitte, and Pricewaterhouse Coopers, and denying them the privilege of practicing or appearing before the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or the “Commission”) for six months, due to their willful refusal to produce requested audit work papers to the SEC in violation of Section 106 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (“Sarbanes-Oxley”) and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”). The four auditing firms appealed the decision to the five members of the SEC on February 12, 2014.