According to the statistics of China stock market news choice, as of April 18, 1906 audit reports on financial statements of listed companies have been released, of which 15 have been issued “non-standard” audit reports.
Xie logistics, a senior investment consultant of Jufeng investment consulting, told the Securities Daily that with the deepening of capital market reform, the importance of audit institutions as “gatekeepers” has become increasingly prominent. Non standard audit opinions can timely and fully reveal the risks of listed companies, improve the transparency of listed companies, and provide investors with effective risk aversion reference.
From the opinion type of audit report, 1891 of the above 1906 listed companies have issued “unqualified opinion” audit reports. Among the 15 companies that have issued “non-standard” audit reports, 9 have issued “unqualified opinion with emphasis”, 4 have issued “qualified opinion” and 2 have issued “unable to express opinion”.
Li Xiaohui, a professor at the school of accounting of the Central University of Finance and economics, told the reporter of Securities Daily that most of the audit reports issued by accounting firms with “unable to express opinions” are due to the fact that the company has been unable to operate normally or there is no special person to deal with various lawsuits, resulting in the auditor’s inability to obtain sufficient and appropriate audit evidence and express opinions. The “qualified opinion” audit report shows that with the continuous compaction of the responsibilities of audit institutions and the further improvement of relevant laws and regulations, auditors gradually tend to speak the truth boldly.
The reporter found that the reasons for the issuance of non-standard audit opinions were mainly the significant uncertainty of continuous operation, the investigation of suspected violations of information disclosure, the investigation of suspected bribery of units, the loss of control of overseas subsidiaries, the risk warning of financial forced delisting caused by continuous losses of the company, etc.
For example, the CSRC issues no opinions due to the suspected violation of the law and the CSRC issues no opinions for the investigation Xinjiang La Chapelle Fashion Co.Ltd(603157) was issued with a qualified opinion because it suffered losses for three consecutive years and faced a large number of litigation matters due to the overdue repayment of large debts Chunghsin Technology Group Co.Ltd(603996) is issued with an opinion that cannot be expressed, because it has suffered major losses for four consecutive years and its financial situation continues to deteriorate.
Recently, the China injection Association interviewed accounting firms in writing, suggesting the annual report audit risk of listed companies that may trigger the conditions for stock delisting. China injection Association said that since 2020, Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges have implemented the delisting system reform and successively issued stricter delisting standards and more detailed financial delisting indicators. Listed companies that may trigger stock delisting conditions face higher internal and external pressure, operational risks and audit risks.
Li Xiaohui said that the China injection Association prompted the annual report audit risk and prompted the auditors to pay attention to the operation and risk areas of listed companies that may trigger the conditions for stock delisting, which is conducive to improving the audit quality and further improving the independence and professional competence of auditors. At the same time, it is also conducive to promoting listed companies to further standardize accounting behavior.
Zheng Nan, a senior investment consultant of Jufeng investment consulting, told the Securities Daily that since the implementation of the new delisting regulations, the regulatory authorities have carried out targeted supervision on all kinds of means to increase income and avoid delisting, carried out key prudential supervision on behaviors such as improper accounting treatment and increasing income, and strictly implemented the normalized delisting system.
“At present, the annual reports of many companies have been issued with non-standard audit opinions by accounting firms, which reflects the continuous improvement of the due diligence ability of audit institutions. It is expected that the annual reports of listed companies will be more authentic and transparent.” Zhengnan said.
Xie logistics said that under the background of the steady progress of the reform of the comprehensive registration system, listed companies need to disclose information more timely, transparently and publicly. Audit institutions should do a good job in risk assessment, income audit, opening balance audit and asset impairment of listed companies.
Turning to further compacting the “gatekeeper” responsibility of intermediaries, Li Xiaohui suggested that a public information platform for financial information of listed companies and audit of certified public accountants should be built to provide a knowledge base and database for auditors to make professional judgments, which is not only conducive to improving audit quality, but also provides a basis for capital market supervision. At the same time, we should strengthen the accountability of auditors for violations of laws and regulations.
