Hong Kong’s audit watchdog Accounting and Financial Reporting Council (AFRC) said on Friday it would investigate PricewaterhouseCoopers’ (PwC) management in auditing China Evergrande Group over a whistle-blower report circulating in the media.
“The report expressed significant concerns regarding potential alleged deficiencies in PricewaterhouseCoopers’ systems of quality management and the quality of the audits of China Evergrande Group,” AFRC said in a statement.
The report also claimed the auditor failed to assign appropriate personnel to key positions, “which might have compromised the monitoring functions of the firm,” the watchdog said, citing the report.
PwC resigned as Evergrande‘s auditor early last year amid disagreements over matters relating to the audit of its 2021 accounts.
Evergrande and PwC have been investigated by Hong Kong’s audit regulator since 2021 over the developer’s 2020 accounts.
Reuters