Chinese fund firms cut partnership with PwC: media reports

Multiple Chinese funds have terminated cooperation with international auditing company PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), according to the firms' statements and media reports.

Baoying Fund said in a statement on Wednesday that the auditor for one of its funds has switched from PwC Zhong Tian to RSM China, and the change has been approved by the company's board of directors and has been notified to fund custodians.

In addition, TruValue Asset Management said on Tuesday that it has switched auditor for 51 of its funds to Ernst & Young (EY) from PwC Zhong Tian, as the reappointment started taking effect on August 2.

On June 29, Hotland Innovation Asset Management announced a change of auditor for 22 of its funds from PwC Zhong Tian to EY as well.

As of Wednesday, PwC audits 5,432 out of the 12,088 public funds on the market, accounting for nearly half of the total, Jiemian.com reported, citing Wind data.

Liquidators on behalf of China Evergrande Group have launched court proceedings against PwC, accusing the firm of "negligence" and "misrepresentation" in its work for Evergrande, the Financial Time reported on Tuesday.

According to the report, lawyers for the liquidators started the legal process against PwC Hong Kong and PwC Zhong Tian in March, citing court documents obtained by the Financial Times.

Previously, multiple Chinese companies, such as insurance firms China Life Insurance Company and PICC Property and Casualty Company, as well as energy giant PetroChina, and China Merchant Bank, had announced the cutting to ties with PwC.

In May, China Securities Regulatory Commission fined Evergrande Group 4.175 billion yuan ($581.37 million) for alleged fraudulent bond issuance and information disclosure violations, while both domestic and foreign media outlets have reported that PwC might be implicated in the fraud.