A major fraud at Chinese company Luckin Coffee in 2020 has raised questions whether Chinese firms with shares listed on the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq should be required to undergo the same audit inspection by the PCAOB that is applied to United States listed firms. Luckin Coffee was listed in the United States but disclosed that its chief operating officer fabricated the company’s 2019 sales by about 2.2 billion yuan ($310 million). As a result, the company’s shares were delisted by Nasdaq and Luckin was fined $180 million.
On December 18, 2020, President Donald Trump signed a new law to prevent Chinese companies listing stock on U.S. exchanges unless American regulators can inspect their financial audits. China’s response was that it is “against politicizing securities regulation” and urged cooperation to protect investors’ rights. According to a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, the new law “will undermine the U.S. capital markets’ global standing and hurt U.S. interests.”
Use ethical reasoning to analyze whether foreign company’s listing shares on U.S. exchanges should be required to undergo the same rigorous audit inspections as U.S. companies.