WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) authored this op-ed for National Review, calling on President Biden to protect American savings from Chinese companies evading U.S. stock market regulations.
Key excerpts include:
“President Biden should make it clear that Chinese companies listing on America’s stock markets face a choice: Play by our rules of transparency and disclosure or don’t play at all.
“More than 200 Chinese businesses have gone public in U.S. capital markets, but many investors don’t realize that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) refuses to let these companies open their books to American regulators. This refusal threatens the savings of American workers and families. The financial risk resembles an iceberg: Chinese companies such as Didi and Luckin Coffee are just the tip.”
. . .
“As a result, Chinese businesses are freer to commit fraud than their American, Asian, and European competitors. Luckin Coffee, for instance, made up a nonexistent $310 million in sales in less than a year. When such fraud comes to light, these businesses’ stock values can drop quickly — dragging Americans’ savings down with them.
“Congress has taken decisive bipartisan action to force companies that flout the PCAOB off U.S. markets, but the CCP probably won’t accept such accountability graciously. In fact, President Xi Jinping’s regime is becoming more belligerent by the day. It’s up to President Biden to protect American investors as the CCP vies for global leadership.
“He can do that by enforcing and building on the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, which Democrats and Republicans came together to pass last year. The law removes firms from American stock exchanges if they refuse PCAOB auditing for three years in a row.”
. . .
“Thankfully, there’s room for President Biden to course-correct. He could re-empower the PCAOB and protect Americans and their savings by supporting the Accelerating Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, which would give firms just two consecutive years — not three — to let the PCAOB audit their records.”
. . .
“We can’t afford to lose momentum as the CCP grows more aggressive. President Biden can and should do more to counter its belligerence by supporting this legislation. It’s time for him to join Democrats and Republicans in Congress in safeguarding Americans’ savings by standing up for the integrity of our markets.”
The op-ed is available here.
