A series of alleged frauds at Chinese companies listed in the West has spotlighted the role of some of the world's biggest auditors in a fast-growing market where they have expanded quickly and competed aggressively in recent years.

　　中国赴西方上市公司发生的一系列涉嫌欺诈行为，令人关注世界最大几家审计公司在一个迅速增长的市场里扮演了什么样的角色。近几年，它们在这个市场迅猛扩张并展开了激烈竞争。

　　Since February, the so-called Big Four accounting firms have resigned or been dismissed from at least seven Chinese companies listed in the U.S., according to SEC filings.

　　美国证券交易委员会(SEC)备案文件显示，今年2月份以来，“四大”会计师事务所至少已从七家赴美上市中国公司辞职或被解聘。

　　In most of those cases, the auditors said they had concerns about the accuracy of information provided by their clients, and in three instances, auditors quit the accounts before completing the auditing of any financial reports.

　　其中多数情况，都是审计机构声称它们担心客户所提供信息是否准确。有三例是审计机构在完成任何财务报表的审计之前就已经离职。

　　Dozens of mostly smaller Chinese companies listed outside that country have come under fire in recent months from regulators and investors, as a wave of fraud alleged by short sellers has erased billions of dollars in the Chinese firms' market value and triggered lawsuits and U.S. regulatory probes.

　　数十家境外上市、多数规模较小的中国公司在近几个月受到监管机构和投资者的强烈质疑。这期间，空头声称这些公司存在的一系列欺诈行为，让它们的市值缩水数十亿美元，并引发法律诉讼和美国监管机构的调查。

　　The companies in question represent just a handful of the hundreds of Chinese companies listed on U.S. exchanges. Still, some of the issues have caught the attention of regulators.

　　在美国交易所上市的中国公司有数百家，嫌疑公司只代表其中一少部分。但部分问题已经引起监管机构注意。

　　This week, officials from the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, which oversees audit firms, are meeting with China's Finance Ministry and the China Securities Regulatory Commission to restart talks aimed at allowing U.S. examiners to inspect auditing firms based in China. U.S regulators have been calling for access to China-based accounting firms that audit U.S.-listed companies, arguing that, at present, they don't have oversight of these firms.

　　本周，SEC和和监管审计机构的公众公司会计监督委员会(Public Company Accounting Oversight Board，简称PCAOB)与中国财政部和中国证券监督管理委员会重启旨在允许美方调查中国审计公司的对话。美国监管机构一直呼吁中国允许它们调查审计美国上市公司的中国会计公司，说目前它们对这些会计公司没有管辖权。

　　Most of the companies in trouble were audited by small accounting firms. But the role of big accounting firms in auditing some of the companies has become a black eye for the firms in the view of some analysts and investors─particularly in cases where they disavowed previous earnings filings they had audited only after 'short sellers,' who bet on a fall in share prices, questioned the accounts.

　　多数问题公司都是由小型会计公司审计的。但在一些分析师和投资者看来，大型会计公司在审计部分问题公司时扮演的角色，已经成为这些会计公司身上的一个污点，特别是在一些情况下，在押注股价下跌的“空头”对上市公司账目提出质疑之后，它们才对自己以往审计过的财务报表拒不认账。

　　In May, Glenn Greene, an analyst with Oppenheimer & Co., lowered his investment rating on two Chinese stocks audited by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu after the accounting firm resigned as auditor for Chinese software company Longtop Financial Technologies Ltd.

　　今年5月份，在德勤会计师事务所(Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu)辞去审计中国软件企业东南融通金融技术有限公司(Longtop Financial Technologies Ltd.)的职务之后，Oppenheimer & Co.的分析师格林(Glenn Greene)下调了德勤审计过的两家中国概念股的投资评级。

　　'Given our limited conviction in Deloitte audited financial statements for Chinese IT services companies, at present, we are stepping to the sidelines and reducing our ratings and removing our price targets' for two firms, Mr. Green said in a May 25 report. The two firms─VanceInfo Technologies Inc. and Camelot Information Systems Inc.─weren't accused of any wrongdoing. Neither was Deloitte.

　　格林在5月25日的一份报告里说，考虑到我们对中国IT服务企业由德勤审计的财务报表不太信任，目前我们退避观望，下调评级，并撤下对两家公司的股价预期。这两家公司分别是文思信息技术有限公司(VanceInfo Technologies Inc.)和柯莱特信息系统有限公司(Camelot Information Systems Inc.)。这两家公司没有被指控有任何过错，也没人指控德勤有错。

　　Gordon Lau, Camelot's chief financial officer, said the team of Deloitte accountants that audit his company's books is 'totally independent' from the team that audited Longtop. 'With the respect to Oppenheimer, we do not agree with the analyst's action, but we respect their research independence,' he said.

　　柯莱特公司首席财务长刘天颂(Gordon Lau)说，德勤审计柯莱特的会计师团队“完全独立”于审计东南融通的团队。他说，在尊重Oppenheimer公司的前提下，我们不认可该分析师的行为，但我们尊重他们研究的独立性。

　　A representative for VanceInfo didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Deloitte declined to comment.

　　文思公司一位代表没有立即回复置评请求。德勤拒绝置评。

　　Deloitte parted ways with New York Stock Exchange-listed Longtop in Mayfollowing six years as its auditor after Longtop was accused by short sellers of inflating its business revenue. Longtop has denied the allegations.

　　继有空头指控称在纽约证券交易所(New York Stock Exchange)上市的东南融通夸大其业务收入后，为东南融通服务了六年的审计师德勤今年5月与该公司分道扬镳。东南融通否认这些指控。

　　In its resignation letter, Deloitte said, 'we decline to be associated' with any of Longtop's financial communications in 2010 and 2011.

　　德勤在辞职信中说，我们拒绝被与东南融通2010年和2011年的财务报告联系在一起。

　　Longtop has said an independent investigation is reviewing Deloitte's concerns and the short sellers' allegations. Longtop declined to comment further.

　　东南融通说，目前开展的独立调查正在审查德勤的关切和空头的指控。东南融通拒绝进一步置评。

　　Along with Deloitte, KPMG, Ernst & Young and PricewaterhouseCoopers─often referred to as the Big Four─declined to comment about their operations in China or the issue of alleged fraud among a few Western-listed Chinese companies.

　　除了德勤，毕马威(KPMG)、安永会计师事务所(Ernst & Young)和普华永道(PricewaterhouseCoopers)(这四家公司常被合称为四大会计师事务所)也拒绝置评有关自己在中国的经营状况或有关在美国上市的几个中国企业的欺诈指控。

　　Accountants say fraud can be difficult for auditors to detect. But in some instances, auditors have alleged fraud by their clients before anyone else has and before any regulatory filings were endorsed.

　　会计师说，审计机构要想发现企业欺诈可能很难。但在一些案例中，审计机构曾在任何人发出指控并在任何监管备案文件获得认可之前，首先站出来指控其客户涉嫌欺诈。

　　The Big Four have expanded rapidly in China, a market that has become the biggest source of new international stock listings and mergers.

　　四大会计师事务所在中国的业务迅速扩大，中国已成为海外上市和并购的最大新兴来源地。

　　The auditors are 'guilty of taking bad clients,' not of doing bad audits, said Paul Gillis, a visiting professor of accounting at Peking University's Guanghua School of Management. But, he said, 'given the Big Four's pace of expansion, it's no surprise that they have a shortage of what you can call gray-hair or no-hair partners.'

　　北京大学光华管理学院会计学客座教授吉利斯(Paul Gillis)说，审计机构在接到坏客户时会产生负罪感，但在做不良审计时却没有这种感觉。不过他说，考虑到“四大”的扩张速度，它们缺少那些资历深厚且可靠的合伙人就不足为奇了。

　　In China, the Big Four operate through joint ventures with local affiliates to comply with domestic rules. All of the Big Four accounting firms have international umbrella organizations and member firms in each country in which they do business. The member firms are separate entities that legally have no relationship to one another.

　　四大会计师事务所在中国经营时，是通过与中国本土企业成立合资公司来遵守中国国内规定。所有四大会计师事务所都有国际保护组织，在自己建立业务的每个国家也都有成员公司。这些成员公司互为独立实体，彼此间没有任何法律关系。

　　In 2004, Deloitte announced an aggressive bid to expand its China business, declaring the country 'an area of virtually unlimited potential' and earmarking $150 million for investment here over the next five years. In 2006, a senior Ernst & Young executive told the state-run China Daily newspaper his firm planned to invest $200 million in China.

　　2004年，德勤宣布了一项雄心勃勃的计划，打算扩大自己在中国的业务，说中国是一个有着几乎无限可能的地方，准备拨付1.5亿美元在未来五年进行在华投资。2006年，安永一位高管对中国官方英文报纸《中国日报》的记者说，安永计划在华投资2亿美元。

　　KPMG took on a 'reverse takeover' company, fuel retailer and distributer China Integrated Energy Inc., as a client in December and signed off on its 2010 earnings filing dated March 16. A reverse takeover is a quicker and cheaper way of going public, but one that avoids the scrutiny of a traditional initial offering. Shortly after KPMG took the account, a short seller published a report saying long-term surveillance of the company's factories had revealed 'no meaningful production activity.' In late April, KPMG resigned, citing lack of cooperation in an independent investigation of China Integrated's accounting that was initiated in response to the short seller's report. KPMG said its audit report should no longer be relied on.

　　去年12月，毕马威承接了一个“反向收购”公司客户──燃油零售商兼分销商中国综合能源公司（China Integrated Energy Inc.），并在该公司标注着2011年3月16日的2010年收益备案文件上签了字。反向收购是一种更快捷、成本更低的企业上市方式，无需像传统的首次公开募股那样经过严格审查。在毕马威接到这个客户后不久，就有一家空头发布报告称，对中国综合能源公司所设工厂进行长期监测后发现，那里并未开展任何有意义的生产活动。今年4月晚些时候，毕马威辞去了中国综合能源公司审计师职位，理由是对该公司财务状况展开独立调查时它缺乏合作，当时之所以发起调查是为了回应那家空头的报告。毕马威说，其审计报告不应再被作为依据。

　　A representative for China Integrated declined to comment.

　　中国综合能源公司代表拒绝置评。