Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

PwC to prevent  exam cheating after US$7m fine

Home National PwC to prevent  exam cheating after US$7m fine
PwC to prevent   exam cheating after US$7m fine

HONG KONG – The China-based affiliates of consultancy giant PwC said it had blocked technologies that enabled its employees to cheat on internal training exams, after a US agency hit it with a US$7 million fine.

 The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) imposed the penalty on the China and Hong Kong offices of the “Big Four” auditing company on Thursday.

More than 1 000 people in both units were found to have cheated on internal training exams, it said. The two offices issued identical statements on Friday saying it was “highly regrettable that a number of employees engaged in the improper sharing and use of technology aimed at assisting with internal trainings and assessments”. They added that they had investigated the issues after being made aware of it and took remedial action.

“This included blocking any further use of or dissemination of the technologies concerned and directing the retake of courses where applicable,” they said. “We reported this matter to the PCAOB during their inspection and have now reached a settlement,” PwC said, adding that they were “pleased that as part of that settlement the PCAOB has credited us with extraordinary cooperation in this matter”.

The board’s work comes after a deal last year between the United States and China to settle a longstanding dispute surrounding the auditing compliance of US-listed Chinese firms.

The non-profit was established by Congress to oversee audits of public companies. The risk was that around 200 Chinese companies such as e-commerce giant Alibaba could be ousted from US stock exchanges if they did not comply with American standards.

The access granted to the body has helped to ease delisting fears. The Hong Kong office was fined US$4 million and the China office US$3 million. A separate penalty was imposed on Shandong Haoxin and four of its auditors for falsifying an audit report and failing to maintain independence, among other issues.

PCAOB chair Erica Williams said the board was on track to inspect all Hong Kong and mainland China firms that audited US-listed companies by the end of 2024, adding that “the days of China-based firms evading accountability are over”.

China had long cited national security concerns for denying foreign regulators access to local accounting firms. But the US Congress passed a law in 2020 specifically targeting Chinese firms, under which the PCAOB must be able to inspect audits of overseas companies listed on US markets. 

– Nampa/AFP