The SEC's move against the Big 4's Chinese affiliates on Monday has people all worked up. On the one hand, yes, if the SEC were to delist a lot of Chinese companies that would make a lot of people sad. Also, if fewer Chinese companies were to consider accessing U.S. markets because they aren't so interested in complying with U.S. securities law, that would make a lot of people sad. Of course, lots of people have been all sad face when they lost money thanks to many Chinese companies' suspect financial reporting.
Citi’s Ravi Sarathy writes that based on such talks he expects a compromise solution “between US and China authorities around and ability to inspect the audit process and controlled access to audit documents.”But the bad news: The issue will linger for the next 10 months and perhaps longer, resulting in increased volatility in the secotr [sic]. Negotiations could be further slowed given the leadership changes not just in the Chinese government but also the SEC.