Finance Ministry handles first cross-border case

China's Ministry of Finance said on Wednesday it has issued a cross-border regulation administrative penalty for the first time.

The MOF issued a notice saying it has investigated and handled a cross-border accounting fraud case, which involved a Chinese accounting firm and a certified public accountant.

In August 2019, Ranjit Ajit Singh, then chairman of the Securities Commission Malaysia, asked China's MOF to help the SC investigate suspected violations of laws and regulations by Fujian Accsoft Technology Development Co Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Malaysia-listed Lambo Group Berhad, and a related accounting firm in China.

The MOF and public security organs' investigations found serious accounting fraud and criminal activities in Fujian Accsoft between 2016 and 2018.

A severe lack of auditing procedures was also found at Zhongxingcai Guanghua Certified Public Accountants LLP, which provided auditing services to the company and bore major responsibility for the company's 2018 auditor's report.

The MOF gave warnings to the accounting firm, confiscated 60,000 yuan ($8,919) of its illegal income, imposed a fine of 300,000 yuan and revoked the CPA license of an accountant involved in the case.

The Chinese ministry said it will maintain a zero-tolerance attitude toward accounting fraud, step up inspections of the quality of accounting information and the quality of accounting firms' practices, continuously deepen cooperation on cross-border accounting and auditing regulation and law enforcement with countries and regions affected and jointly promote the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative.

On Aug 20, 2018, the MOF and the SC signed a memorandum of understanding for cross-border regulatory cooperation on accounting and auditing matters under their respective oversight. The MOU was signed by Chinese Finance Minister Liu Kun and Ranjit.