Alibaba Included in Preliminary Delisting List of US Stock Market

[Photo by AFP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] Bloomberg reported on the 29th (local time) that Alibaba, China's largest e-commerce company, has been included in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)'s preliminary delisting list.

The SEC included Alibaba on the preliminary delisting list due to limited access to Alibaba's accounting information.

According to Chinese media, in addition to Alibaba, the SEC added women's consumer goods online platform Mogujie, pet supplies seller Boqi, and internet company Leiba to the potential delisting list.

The SEC manages a list of companies that may be delisted from the U.S. stock market based on the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (HFCAA), passed in 2020.

Starting with five companies in March, the SEC has placed 159 Chinese companies listed on the U.S. stock market on the potential delisting list. Included are Baidu, China's largest search engine and artificial intelligence (AI) company; Chinese portal site Sohu.com; China's largest social media platform Weibo; Bilibili, known as the Chinese version of YouTube; and JD.com, a leading Chinese e-commerce company. About 270 Chinese companies are listed on the U.S. stock market.

The HFCAA stipulates that foreign companies failing to meet their home country’s accounting standards for three consecutive years must be delisted from the stock market.

The U.S. and China have been in conflict over accounting oversight rights for Chinese companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

China is instructing some companies to prepare to disclose accounting data to prevent delisting of its companies and is pushing for revisions to accounting regulations for overseas listed companies.

Zhao Lijian, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated in May, "Both Chinese and U.S. authorities maintain close communication regarding cooperation in accounting audit supervision and management between the two sides." However, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler has expressed uncertainty about whether an agreement with Chinese authorities will be reached.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.