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The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) announced Chinese regulators were in full compliance with U.S. securities regulations. As a result, more than 170 Chinese companies, many with overt ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), will be able to continue operating on U.S. stock exchanges.
 
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), who helped write and pass the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, criticized the PCAOB’s decision as short-sighted, naive, and dangerous. 
 

• “Under pressure from Wall Street, the Biden Administration struck a bad deal with the Chinese Communist Party. Promises from Beijing are meaningless, just ask Hong Kong.

• “The PCAOB’s job was to protect American investors by ensuring full compliance and transparency with U.S. officials. No deviations, no exceptions. The decision today shows a failure to do so, and creates more questions than answers for the American people.

• “There should be bipartisan opposition to this decision, and Congress should act next year to reverse President Biden’s deal, which puts the livelihood of millions of American retirees, pensioners, and other investors at risk.” — Senator Rubio 

 
Because of the Biden Administration’s decision, these CCP-controlled companies will maintain access to more than $1 trillion in market capitalization.
 
The PCAOB selected two British-affiliated auditing firms to review, one in Hong Kong and one in mainland China. It used these firms’ openness to U.S. auditors as a litmus test for the entire country. No indigenous Chinese auditing firms were scrutinized and information about Chinese military installations was blocked from review.
 
Looking forward … While enactment of Rubio’s Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act helped force the CCP to the negotiating table and allow for a level of transparency unprecedented, the PCAOB did not live up to the law. Rubio will work with colleagues to ensure that it does.  
 
Want more information? Read more.
 

• August 2022: Rubio Urges Full Compliance in China Audit Agreement: “No Exceptions”
• July 2022: Rubio Discusses China Delisting Law With PCAOB Chair Williams
• July 2022: Rubio Introduces Bill To Turn Off The Tap On Federal Investment In Blacklisted Chinese Firms
• June 2022: Rubio Releases Video Detailing Threat Of Investing In China
• June 2022: Rubio Releases Hold on Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board Nominees
• May 2022: Rubio, Colleagues Urge Biden Administration to Protect Federal Retirement Dollars From Dangerous Chinese Companies
• July 2021: Rubio Calls SEC Guidance on China “Long Overdue” but Says More Action Needed
• June 2021: Rubio, Colleagues Question SEC on Unprecedented Replacement of PCAOB Members & Urge the Swift Implementation of Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act
• June 2021: Rubio: SEC Should Block IPO of Chinese Ride-Hail Company DiDi
• June 2021: Rubio Statement on Biden’s China Blacklist
• May 2021: Rubio: Wall Street Must Stop Enabling Communist China (American Prospect)
• May 2021: Rubio, Casey Introduce Bill to Ban Chinese Firms That Ignore U.S. Laws From Listing on U.S. Exchanges
• May 2021: Rubio Leads Bipartisan, Bicameral Bill Banning TSP Board From Steering Federal Retirement Savings to China
• January 2021: Rubio Statement on NYSE, Delisting of Chinese Telecom Companies
• November 2020: Rubio Statement on SEC Proposed Plan to Ban Chinese Firms That Flout U.S. Laws From U.S. Exchanges 
• July 2020: Rubio Urges President’s Working Group on Financial Markets to Address China’s Exploitation of U.S. Financial System
• May 2020: Rubio, Shaheen Welcome Decision by TSP Board to Halt Transfer of Federal Retirement Savings to China  
• October 2019: Rubio, Shaheen Lead Bipartisan Group Urging TSP Board to Reverse Decision to Steer Federal Retirement Savings to China
• September 2019: ICYMI: Rubio & Shaheen: Federal Retirement Savings Should Not Fund China’s Communist Party
• August 2019: Rubio, Shaheen Urge TSP Board to Reverse Decision to Steer Federal Retirement Savings to China
• June 2019: Rubio, Colleagues Introduce Bipartisan, Bicameral Bill to Ban Chinese & Foreign Firms that Flout U.S. Laws from U.S. Exchanges