Sinopec among state-owned enterprises delisting from Wall Street amid dispute over auditing
SHANGHAI: Four Chinese state-owned companies including China Life Insurance and the oil giant Sinopec announced plans on Friday to delist from the US stock market.
The companies, which also include Aluminium Corporation of China (Chalco) and PetroChina, said in separate statements that they would apply for delisting of their American Depository Shares from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
The four will keep their listings in Hong Kong and mainland Chinese stock markets.
China and the United States have been in talks to resolve a long-running dispute that could result in Chinese companies being kicked off American exchanges if they cannot comply with US audit rules.
The companies were added to the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (HFCAA) list in May after they were identified as not meeting US regulators’ auditing standards. There was no direct mention of the auditing disputes in the companies’ separate statements on Friday.
Each of the four said their US-traded share volume was small compared with that on the other major markets where they are listed.
China Life and Chalco said they would file for delisting on Aug 22, with delisting taking effect 10 days later. Sinopec and PetroChina said their applications would be made on Aug 29.
