United States of America: SEC issues interim rules implementing the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act

On 18 March 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued interim measures implementing the disclosure and submission requirements outlined in the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (HFCA Act). In particular, the SEC amended the Forms 20-F, 40-F, 10-Kand N-CSR to list the information that companies issuing securities in the United States that cannot be fully inspected by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board because they maintain an accounting firm in a foreign jurisdiction where local rules prevent a full inspection, have to provide. The companies will be required to certify to the SEC that they are not owned or controlled by a foreign governmental entity. Furthermore, the companies will be required to disclose information on the percentage of shares owned by a foreign governmental entity, whether such entities have a controlling share, the names of board members who are also Chinese Communist Party officials, and whether the company's articles of incorporation contain any charter of the Chinese Communist Party.