US-China tensions under the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act

This DPA thread tracks investigations and regulatory developments in response to the US Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (HFCAA). The law was implemented in 2020 to prevent oversight gaps due to foreign cross-border data transfer restrictions. Registered public accounting firms located abroad must allow full inspection access to a US oversight board. Clients of accounting firms that are in violation of the HFCAA must provide proof that they are not owned or controlled by a foreign government entity. Failure to provide such proof may result in the delisting of the client from US exchanges. The enforcement through the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) since March 2022 led to mounting tensions, particularly with China whose Cybersecurity regulator limits the cross-border trans