Asia

PwC's Chinese auditing division has been suspended for six months due to its role in auditing the now-collapsed property giant Evergrande. The accounting firm has also been fined over $62 million (£47 million) by Chinese authorities, who accuse it of helping to conceal fraud at Evergrande, which collapsed in January under a massive debt load. PwC China acknowledged that its work fell "unacceptably below" the firm's expected standards and apologized to its clients for the fallout. Authorities claim PwC was aware of "major misstatements" in Evergrande’s financial statements during its audits. In response, China's Ministry of Finance has imposed "administrative penalties" and suspended PwC ZhongTian's auditing services for six months, though its non-audit services remain unaffected. ...

China’s central bank made a significant purchase of Rmb400bn ($56bn) in long-term sovereign bonds on Thursday, a move that traders viewed as a potential precursor to directly supporting bond yields in the country's rapidly expanding debt markets. The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) acquired Rmb300bn in 10-year notes and Rmb100bn in 15-year notes from primary dealers. These notes had just been issued by the Ministry of Finance to refinance maturing bonds. Analysts suggest that this action, which effectively removes these bonds from the market, has heightened speculation that the PBoC may soon intervene in the bond market to avert a sharp correction that could lead to financial instability similar to the losses seen with Silicon Valley Bank. Chinese debt has surged this year as glo...