"strict supervision" has been the main tone of the work of the SFC for several months. On April 30th, after the Shanghai, Shenzhen and North Stock Exchange released a series of new capital market rules, including IPO rules and delisting rules, the number of listed companies named for all kinds of illegal activities further increased.
According to Wind statistics, in a short period of 8 days from May 5 to May 12, at least 12 listed companies were placed on file for investigation, 5 enterprises received advance notice of termination of listing on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, and 9 listed companies received more than 20 listed companies because of the non-operating occupation of large amounts of funds by their controlling shareholders.
While listed companies are severely punished, brokerages and other intermediary agencies also receive frequent fines. On May 10 alone, six brokerages, Guoxin Securities (002736), China International Capital Corporation, Shen Wanhongyuan (000166), CITIC Securities (600030), Dongguan Securities and Open Source Securities, were punished by local securities regulatory bureaus.
Throughout the series of punishment cases, some new features began to appear. According to the analysis of Tian Xuan, deputy dean of Wudaokou School of Finance of Tsinghua University, under the guidance of the new policy, the effect of "tusk with thorns" is significant. On the one hand, the number of investigations filed by administrative penalties has increased significantly, and the regulatory coverage is more extensive, involving illegal information disclosure, insider trading, market manipulation, illegal increase and reduction of holdings, and so on. On the other hand, both the amount of forfeiture and the proportion of forfeiture have been increased, the proportion of criminal punishment has been further increased, and the overall punishment has been significantly enhanced.
More than 20 companies were named within 8 days.
With the end of the annual report legal disclosure deadline and the formal implementation of a series of new capital market regulations, A-shares ushered in a new wave of intensive disclosure of fines of listed companies.
Through interviews and research, the 21st Century Economic report found that this round of fines is more numerous and stronger than in the past, and more than 20 listed companies have been named since May 5. Taking a closer look at the tickets of more than 20 enterprises, four major features have emerged.
First of all, there is a marked increase in the number of listed companies that have been put on file for investigation.
ReporterIslandreelscasinonodepositbonusIt is understood that in previous years, the number of cases filed by the CSRC each year was mostly about 100; in 2023, the number increased to more than 130, and the monthly average is still less than 11. In just 8 days from May 5 to May 12, as many as 12 listed companies were put on file for investigation.
Among them, only on the evening of May 8th, eight listed companies, including ST Huatie, Wechuang (002308), Puli Pharmaceuticals (300630), * ST Sansheng, ST Yi Lianzhong (300096), Dongxu Optoelectronics (000413), Dongxu Lantian (000040), and * ST Yuebo, announced that they had been placed on file for investigation by the Securities Regulatory Commission. The listed companies that were put on file for investigation during the period from May 5 to May 12 also included Jinjia shares (002191) and Caesar Culture (002425), which were filed on May 5, * ST, which was filed on May 9, and Tianyu Digital, which was filed on May 12.
Judging from the reasons why the above-mentioned enterprises were put on file for investigation, the number of people who did not disclose the 2023 annual report within the prescribed time limit was the largest, reaching 7, and there were 3 other companies that violated the rules.
The most serious one is Xu Dewei, chairman and general manager of the Tianyu Mathematics Department, who was placed on file for investigation on May 12. He was placed on file for investigation and detention by the Ningxia Hui Autonomous region Supervisory Commission because he was suspected of violating the law in his joint duties.
Secondly, the number of enterprises that have been ST has increased.
On the evening of May 12 alone, three listed companies, namely, Straits Innovation, Huijin (300368), and Special Information (000070), were implemented the "other risk Alert (ST)" because of false records in their annual reports, and their companies and the main responsible persons were fined a total of 1.1 million yuan, 2 million yuan and more than 1000 million yuan respectively.
In addition, more enterprises are going to be delisted.
On the evening of May 6th, five listed companies, including * ST Sansheng, * ST Yuebo, * ST Taian, * ST Zuojiang, and * ST, were notified in advance of the termination of listing on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, which faced great risk of compulsory delisting.
The common problem of the five companies is that they touch upon the situation of compulsory delisting in the financial category, and they failed to obtain a relatively normal annual report audit report in the first fiscal year (2023) after being "hooded". They were unable to express their opinions or even failed to disclose their annual reports as scheduled.
In addition, it is worth noting that while the supervision severely punishes listed companies, the penalties for securities companies and other intermediary institutions are also significantly increased.
Six brokerages, including Guoxin Securities, China International Capital Corporation, Shen Wanhongyuan, CITIC Securities, Dongguan Securities and Open Source Securities, received fines on May 10 alone, and as many as nine brokerages have been named since May 5.
"strict supervision is the top priority of the CSRC's current work, whether it is listed companies, securities companies, accounting firms and other intermediary institutions, the number of fines issued in the future is likely to further increase, and this trend will continue." Analysis of interviewees.
Guard against the risk of compulsory delisting of seven types of enterprises
Judging from the punishment cases, there has been a significant increase in the number of enterprises being punished, especially the number of enterprises being punished for violations disclosed in the annual report is significantly higher than in previous years, does this mean that the violations of laws and regulations of listed companies are more serious? In the opinion of the interviewees, the answer is no.
According to Tian Xuan's analysis, the current increase in fines is due to the new regulatory policy requiring strict continuous supervision of listed companies, strengthening information disclosure requirements, strengthening delisting enforcement, and so on. In this context, the regulatory requirements for accounting firms and their employees to practice standardization, diligence and due diligence are further strengthened, and accounting firms have the courage to say "no" to listed companies. The overall audit institutions are more cautious in their practice, strengthen the investigation of the operation and internal control of listed companies, further improve the quality of practice, and investigate and deal with irregularities such as the truthfulness, accuracy and integrity of the financial statements of listed companies.
"in the past, there were doubts about commercial reasonableness, illegal guarantees, failure to provide audit documents in historical transactions, or false increase in profits, but it was repeatedly banned because of lax audit inspection and did not include requirements such as compulsory delisting." Tian Xuan said.
Nowadays, the increase in the number of fines is not only the increase of illegal behavior of enterprises, but the increase of efforts to eradicate the chaos in the capital market. When the enterprise problems are punished more severely, the standardization of listed companies and the ecology of the capital market will be greatly improved.
Severely punishing the illegal behavior of listed companies is bound to mean that more enterprises are forced to delist. It is very important for investors to identify such companies as soon as possible and invest cautiously.
Tian Xuan suggested focusing on the risks of forced delisting of seven types of enterprises, including doubts about the authenticity of financial reports, serious decline in performance, financial fraud triggering mandatory delisting standards, non-rectification of large capital occupation by controlling shareholders, non-standard opinions on internal control for three consecutive years, disorderly competition for real control rights, and the market value of the main board company hitting the delisting standard of 500 million yuan.
"Under the new 'National Nine Articles', *ST Company faces the risk of direct delisting, especially the strict supervision of' backdoor listing', and precise attacks on malicious speculation and market manipulation by relying on 'shell resources', which will also allow attempts to pass backdoor listings. The speculative behavior of malicious speculation has been greatly reduced." Tian Xuan analyzed.
