PwC making investments for ‘high quality’ business in China, internal memo says

PwC is making “tangible investments” to ensure the Big Four firm has high quality and sustainable business in China, it said in a memo to staff after Chinese regulators on Friday hit the company’s mainland unit with a record penalty. PwC Zhong Tian LLP was hit with a six-month suspension and a record fine of 441 million yuan ($62 million) on Friday over the firm’s audit of failed property developer China Evergrande Group. Chinese authorities have been examining PwC’s role in Evergrande’s accounting practices since the country’s securities regulator accused the developer in March of a $78-billion fraud over a period of two years through 2020.