U.S. Accounting Watchdog Says It’s Working With China on Audit Dispute

The U.S. organization that oversees the audits of public companies has confirmed that it has been working with Chinese authorities to reach an agreement over a longstanding dispute that has hindered its access to the audit work papers of U.S.-listed Chinese firms.

The simmering dispute has made it possible for Chinese companies to get booted from U.S. exchanges for failing to meet auditing requirements, the first batch of which was identified by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last week. That news contributed to one of the steepest sell-offs of U.S.-listed Chinese stocks since the global financial crisis, a pummeling that spread to Chinese tech shares traded in Hong Kong.