Our reporter Bao Xing'an
According to the statistics of Oriental Fortune Choice, as of April 18, 1,906 listed companies' financial statement audit reports 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" reporter that with the deepening of capital market reform, the importance of audit institutions as "gatekeepers" has become increasingly prominent, and non-standard audit opinions can timely and fully reveal listed companies. Existing risks, improve the transparency of listed companies, and provide investors with an effective reference for risk aversion.
Judging from the types of audit report opinions, among the 1,906 listed companies mentioned above, 1,891 were issued audit reports with "unqualified opinions".
Among the 15 companies that were issued with "non-standard" audit reports, 9 were issued with "unqualified opinions with emphasis on matters paragraph" audit reports, 4 were issued with "qualified" audit reports, and 2 were issued with "qualified opinions". Disclaimer of opinion" audit report.
Li Xiaohui, a professor at the School of Accounting of the Central University of Finance and Economics, told the "Securities Daily" reporter that the audit reports issued by accounting firms that "cannot express opinions" are mostly due to the reason that the company can no longer operate normally or there is no special person responsible for handling various lawsuits. Inability to obtain sufficient and appropriate audit evidence to express an opinion.
The issuance of an audit report with a "qualified opinion" shows that with the continuous consolidation of audit institutions' responsibilities and the further improvement of relevant laws and regulations, auditors are gradually inclined to speak the truth boldly.
The reporter found that the main reasons for the non-standard audit opinions were major uncertainties in continuing operations, investigations on suspected information disclosure violations, investigations on alleged bribery by units, loss of control of overseas subsidiaries, and continuous losses of the company that affected financial similar compulsory delisting risk warning, etc.
For example, Hua Hong Jitong was issued an unqualified opinion with an emphasis paragraph, mainly because it was investigated by the China Securities Regulatory Commission because of its alleged violation of laws and regulations in information disclosure; *ST Laxia was issued a qualified opinion because of losses for three consecutive years, and due to large The debt was overdue and was not repaid, and faced a large number of lawsuits; *ST Zhongxin was issued an inability to express an opinion, because it suffered significant losses for four consecutive years and the financial situation continued to deteriorate.
Recently, the CICPA has written a written interview with an accounting firm to warn of the risk of auditing annual reports of listed companies that may trigger delisting conditions.
The CICPA stated that since 2020, the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges have implemented the reform of the delisting system, and successively issued stricter delisting standards and more detailed financial delisting indicators, which may trigger the delisting conditions of stocks. Listed companies face high internal and external pressures and operational risks, and audit risks are high.
Li Xiaohui said that the CICPA reminded the audit risks of annual reports, prompting auditors to pay attention to the operating conditions and risk areas of listed companies that may trigger stock delisting conditions, which is conducive to improving 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 at Jufeng Investment Consultants, told the "Securities Daily" reporter that since the implementation of the new delisting regulations, the regulators have conducted targeted supervision on various means of unexpectedly increasing revenue and evading delisting, and have made bigger efforts to take improper accounting treatment. Focus on prudential supervision of income and other behaviors, and strictly implement the normalized delisting system.
"At present, many companies' annual reports have been issued non-standard audit opinions by accounting firms, which reflects the continuous improvement of audit institutions' ability to perform their duties and responsibilities. It is expected that the annual reports of listed companies will be more authentic and transparent." Zheng Nan said.
Xie Logistics said that under the background of the steady progress of the comprehensive registration system reform, listed companies need to disclose information in a more timely, transparent and open manner, and audit institutions should do a good job in risk assessment, income audit, opening balance audit and asset impairment of listed companies, etc. Work.
Talking about further compacting the "gatekeeper" responsibilities of intermediaries, Li Xiaohui suggested that a public information platform for financial information of listed companies and auditing by certified public accountants should be built to provide a knowledge base and database for auditors to make professional judgments, which will not only help improve audit quality, but also It provides a basis for capital market supervision.
At the same time, the accountability of auditors for violations of laws and regulations should be strengthened.
(Securities Daily)