Interpretation, application and enforcement of these laws, rules and regulations evolve from time to time and their scope may continually change, through new legislation, amendments to existing legislation and changes in enforcement. Compliance with the Cyber Security Law and the Data Security Law could significantly increase the cost to us of providing our service offerings, require significant changes to our operations or even prevent us from providing certain service offerings in jurisdictions in which we currently operate or in which we may operate in the future. Despite our efforts to comply with applicable laws, regulations and other obligations relating to privacy, data protection and information security, it is possible that our practices, offerings or platform could fail to meet all of the requirements imposed on us by the Cyber Security Law, the Data Security Law and/or related implementing regulations. Any failure on our part to comply with such law or regulations or any other obligations relating to privacy, data protection or information security, or any compromise of security that results in unauthorized access, use or release of personally identifiable information or other data, or the perception or allegation that any of the foregoing types of failure or compromise has occurred, could damage our reputation, discourage new and existing counterparties from contracting with us or result in investigations, fines, suspension or other penalties by Chinese government authorities and private claims or litigation, any of which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Even if our practices are not subject to legal challenge, the perception of privacy concerns, whether or not valid, may harm our reputation and brand and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Moreover, the legal uncertainty created by the Data Security Law and the recent Chinese government actions could materially adversely affect our ability, on favorable terms, to raise capital, including engaging in
follow-on
offerings of our securities in the U.S. market or the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong.
The audit report included in our periodic reports are prepared by an auditor who is not inspected by the U.S. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, or the PCAOB, and as such, you are deprived of the benefits of such inspection, we may be subject to additional Nasdaq listing criteria or other penalties and our ADSs may be delisted from the U.S. stock market.
Auditors of companies that are registered with the SEC and traded publicly in the United States, including the independent registered public accounting firm of our company, must be registered with the PCAOB, and are required by the laws of the United States to undergo regular inspections by the PCAOB to assess their compliance with the laws of the United States and professional standards. Because a substantial portion of our operations are within China, a jurisdiction where the PCAOB is currently unable to conduct inspections without the approval of the Chinese authorities, our auditor is not currently inspected by the PCAOB.
Inspections of auditors conducted by the PCAOB outside China have at times identified deficiencies in those auditors’ audit procedures and quality control procedures, which may be addressed as part of the inspection process to improve future audit quality. The lack of PCAOB inspections of audit work undertaken in China prevents the PCAOB from regularly evaluating our auditor’s audits and its quality control procedures. As a result, investors are deprived of the benefits of PCAOB inspections and may lose confidence in our reported financial information and procedures and the quality of our financial statements.
As part of a continued regulatory focus in the United States on access to audit and other information currently protected by national law, in particular China’s, in June 2019, a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced bills in both houses of the U.S. Congress, which if passed, would require the SEC to maintain a list of issuers for which PCAOB is not able to inspect or investigate the audit work performed by a foreign public accounting firm completely. The proposed Ensuring Quality Information and Transparency for Abroad-Based Listings on Our Exchanges Act prescribes increased disclosure requirements for these issuers and, beginning in 2025, the delisting from U.S. national securities exchanges, such as the Nasdaq, of issuers included on the SEC’s list for three consecutive years. It is unclear if this proposed legislation will be enacted.
Furthermore, there have been recent deliberations within the U.S. government regarding potentially limiting or restricting China-based companies from accessing U.S. capital markets. On May 20, 2020, the U.S. Senate passed the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (HFCA Act), which includes requirements for the SEC to identify issuers whose audit work is performed by auditors that the PCAOB is unable to inspect or investigate completely because of a restriction imposed by
a non-U.S. authority
in the auditor’s local jurisdiction and to prohibit the securities of such issuers that have has three consecutive
non-inspection
years from being traded on U.S. national securities exchanges such as the Nasdaq. The U.S. House of Representatives passed the HFCA Act on December 2, 2020, and the HFCA Act was signed into law on December 18, 2020. On May 13, 2021, the PCAOB issued proposed PCAOB Rule 6100 Board Determinations under the HFCA Act for public comment. The proposed rule provides a framework for making determinations as to whether PCAOB is unable to inspect an audit firm in a foreign jurisdiction, including the timing, factors, bases, publication and revocation or modification of such determinations, and provides that such determinations may be made on a jurisdiction-wide basis in a consistent manner applicable to all firms headquartered in the jurisdiction.
Additionally, in July 2020, the U.S. President’s Working Group on Financial Markets issued recommendations for actions that can be taken by the executive branch, the SEC, the PCAOB or other federal agencies and departments with respect to Chinese companies listed on U.S. stock exchanges and their audit firms, in an effort to protect investors in the United States. In response, on November 23, 2020, the SEC issued guidance highlighting certain risks (and their implications to U.S. investors) associated with investments in China-based issuers and summarizing enhanced disclosures the SEC recommends China-based issuers make regarding such risks.
On June 22, 2021, the U.S. Senate passed the Accelerating Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (AHFCA Act), which amends the requirements of the HFCA Act to require that the SEC identify issuers whose audit work is performed by auditors that the PCAOB is unable to inspect or investigate completely because of a restriction imposed by any
non-U.S.
authority and to prohibit the securities of such issuers that have had two consecutive
non-inspection
years from being traded on U.S. national securities exchanges such as the Nasdaq.
Under the HFCA Act (and, if passed, the AHFCA Act), our securities may be prohibited from trading on the Nasdaq or other U.S. stock exchanges if our auditor is not inspected by the PCAOB for three consecutive years (or, if the AHFCA Act is passed, two consecutive years), and this ultimately could result in our ADSs being delisted which would materially adversely affect the Company.