世界四大会计事务所之一、总部设在英国的普华永道（PricewaterhouseCoopers, PwC），因替中国房地产巨头恒大集团出具虚假审计报告，被中国财政部罚款人民币4.41亿元（8070万新元），并处以停业六个月的处罚，同时撤销了普华永道广州分所的执业资格。

普华永道因对恒大集团的虚假账目“睁一只眼、闭一只眼” 而陷入危机。而在香港上市的恒大集团今年1月已被下令清盘，留下超过3000亿美元的债务、上百万套烂尾楼，以及数十亿美元的财富管理产品违约。

恒大账目造假，普华永道作为审计机构应承担多少责任？这背后是否存在利益输送？

这期的早报播客《东谈西论》，听主持人韩咏红和新加坡管理大学李光前商学院副教授傅方剑解析这个事件暴露了上市公司与会计行业之间哪些深层次问题？

延伸阅读：

• 中国财政部点名瑞幸恒大：财务造假成本过低 新会计法大幅提高处罚力度
• 普华永道被香港监管机构调查

Chinese regulators hit the auditing unit of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in mainland China with a six-month business suspension and a record fine of 441 million yuan (S$81 million) over the firm’s audit of troubled property developer China Evergrande Group, which was ordered to liquidate earlier this year.

The Big Four accounting firm is accused of failing to uncover accounting irregularities at the real estate giant, raising serious questions about auditing practices in China.

In this episode of Global Heartbeat podcast, join host Han Yong Hong and Associate Professor of Finance from the Singapore Management University’s Lee Kong Chian School of Business, Fu Fangjian, as they delve into the broader implications of this incident for the auditing industry, financial accountability, and corporate governance in China. 

Hosted by Lianhe Zaobao’s Associate Editor, Han Yong Hong, Global Heartbeat is a Mandarin weekly news and current affairs podcast that is updated every Tuesday, 7.00 PM SGT. It is available on zaobao.sg, Apple Podcast, Spotify and other podcast platforms.