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The Chinese affiliates of the Big Four accounting firms have agreed to pay a combined $2 million as part of a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission over their failure to produce documents from their audits of Chinese companies under investigation by the agency.
“四大”会计师事务所的中国分公司同意支付共计200万美元（约合1250万元人民币），与美国证券交易委员会（Securities and Exchange Commission，简称SEC）达成和解。案件的起因是这些会计师事务所未能出具受到调查的中国企业的审计底稿。
The Chinese accounting firms — affiliates of Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers — agreed to pay $500,000 each and take certain steps to satisfy future document requests by the S.E.C., the agency said on Friday.
SEC周五称，这些中国会计公司——德勤(Deloitte)、安永(Ernst & Young)、毕马威(KPMG)和普华永道(PricewaterhouseCoopers)的分支——同意各支付50万美元，并采取具体措施，以满足SEC未来对提交审计文件的要求。
But the S.E.C. stopped short of suspending the firms from auditing Chinese companies listed in the United States. Last year, an S.E.C. administrative law judge called for a six-month suspension from such work.
但SEC并未让这些公司停止针对在美上市中国企业的审计业务。去年，SEC的一名行政法法官曾呼吁，在六个月时间里禁止它们开展此项业务。
The four firms on Friday did not admit or deny the S.E.C.’s contention that they violated securities laws. But they acknowledged that they did not hand over the documents before the S.E.C. brought charges against them in 2012.
这四家公司周五既没有承认，也没有否认SEC关于它们违反了证券法的说法。但这些公司表示，它们确实没有在2012年SEC对其提起指控之前提交这些文件。
“As we repeatedly have stated throughout this litigation, obtaining an audit firm’s work papers is critical to enforcement staff’s ability adequately to protect investors from the dangers of accounting fraud,” Andrew Ceresney, the director of the S.E.C’s enforcement division, said in a statement.
“正如我们在诉讼中反复强调的，取得一家审计公司的工作底稿，对于执法部门能否充分保障投资者免于审计欺诈的风险，是至关重要的，”SEC执法部门的负责人安德鲁·塞莱斯尼(Andrew Ceresney)在一份声明中说。
In a joint statement, the four Chinese firms said they were “pleased” to have reached the settlement and added that their “ability to continue to serve all their respective clients is not affected by this settlement.”
这四家中国分公司在一份联合声明中称，对达成和解感到“满意”，并表示，他们“可以继续服务各自的客户，不会受到这项和解协议的影响”。
In a separate statement, Ernst & Young said it was “pleased this matter has been resolved given the potential for significant harm to investors and the global capital markets of further proceedings.”
在另一份声明中，安永表示，“鉴于进一步的诉讼可能会给投资者和全球资本市场造成严重损害，我们很高兴看到此事得到解决。”
The settlement resolved a yearslong dispute that stemmed from the S.E.C.’s investigating possible fraud at Chinese companies that had gone public in the United States. The S.E.C. said in late 2012 that the companies’ auditors had refused to hand over relevant paperwork and that they could face sanctions.
这项和解协议解决了长达一年的纠纷。纠纷的起因在于，SEC对在美国上市的中国企业可能存在的欺诈行为开展的调查。SEC在2012年末表示，这些公司的审计师拒绝提供相关文件，因而可能会受到处罚。
The firms countered that handing over the documents could violate Chinese secrecy laws.
四家公司反驳称，提供文件会违反中国的保密法规。
But in early 2014, the administrative law judge, who is independent of the S.E.C., censured the Chinese affiliates of the four firms and called for the six-month suspension. Accounting experts have since said that such a suspension could have broad consequences and complicate the audits of American firms that do business in China.
但在2014年初，独立于SEC的上述行政法法官，对四大会计师事务所在中国的分支机构提出了谴责，并呼吁禁止它们开展业务六个月。会计专家表示，暂停业务可能会造成广泛的后果，为在华经营的美国公司的审计工作带来麻烦。
As part of the deal announced on Friday, the S.E.C. gained a few important levers it can pull if the Chinese firms fail to meet future requests for documents. Among these are the ability to impose a six-month bar on certain audit work and the right to restart the administrative proceedings.
作为周五宣布的协议的一部分，SEC获得了几个重要的钳制手段，如果这些中国公司未来没有满足提供文件的要求，SEC就可以动用这些手段。比如，SEC可以禁止它们在六个月的时间里开展某些审计工作，SEC也有权重启行政诉讼。
“The settlement is an important milestone in the S.E.C.’s ability to obtain documents from China,” Antonia Chion, associate director of the S.E.C.’s enforcement division, said in a statement. “Of course, we hope that it is an enduring milestone.”
“这项和解协议对于SEC从中国获取文件的能力来说，是一个重要的里程碑，”SEC执法部门副主任安东尼娅·希翁(Antonia Chion)在一份声明中表示。“当然，我们希望这是一个持久性的里程碑。”
