Auditing Firm Sues Securities Regulator for Alleged Wrongful Punishment

A major Chinese accounting firm has sued China’s securities regulator in Beijing for penalizing it more than 5 million yuan ($720,000) in December for allegedly botching an audit of a now-delisted metals company.

Ruihua Certified Public Accountants LLP, one of the country’s largest accounting firms, demanded in court (link in Chinese) Tuesday that the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) return the 3.9 million yuan that it fined the company for allegedly failing to perform due diligence properly on some of its earlier audits, according to video of the hearing. Beijing No.1 Intermediate People’s Court did not immediately announce a verdict.