Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (“HFCAA”)
~ Monday, September 12, 2022 Blog Post~
Source: United States Securities and Exchange Commission
Website: https://www.sec.gov/hfcaa
Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (“HFCAA”)
On December 18, 2020, the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (“HFCAA”) became law.[1] Among other things, the statute requires the Commission to identify public companies that have retained a registered public accounting firm to issue an audit report where the firm has a branch or office that: (1) is located in a foreign jurisdiction, and (2) the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (“PCAOB”) has determined that it is unable to inspect or investigate completely because of a position taken by an authority in the foreign jurisdiction.
Under the HFCAA, the PCAOB has the responsibility for determining that it is unable to inspect or investigate completely a registered public accounting firm or a branch or office of such a firm because of a position taken by an authority in a foreign jurisdiction. The Commission’s role at this stage of the process is solely to identify issuers that have used such PCAOB-identified public accounting firms to audit their financial statements.
The Commission staff will promptly add issuers it identifies under the HFCAA to the lists below, as described in more detail in Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act Disclosure, Release №34–93701. Registrants are strongly encouraged to consult the release for information on how the HFCAA will be implemented.
This site and the information linked below comprises the relevant information related to the HFCAA and its implementation, and is where the Commission will list any Commission-Identified Issuers. The Commission’s process is not a forum to debate the statute or substantive issues such as the PCAOB’s prior determinations.
Issuers who wish to submit evidence to dispute being provisionally identified as a Commission-Identified Issuer under the HFCAA, may contact the staff at hfcaa@sec.gov.
