ASA Submits Testimony to U.S. – China Commission

Highlights bipartisan support in Washington to end China’s fraud on U.S. markets

WASHINGTON – The American Securities Association (ASA) today submitted testimony for the record ahead of a U.S. – China Economic and Security Review Commission hearing on U.S. investment in China’s capital markets and military-industrial complex.

“For years, the ASA has been the only financial trade association advocating to end the Chinese Communist Party’s fraud on our capital markets and the harm it has caused America’s working families,” ASA CEO Chris Iacovella wrote in his testimony. “The Chinese Communist Party has direct or indirect control over companies in U.S. markets that are linked to areas of significant national security, human rights, environmental, and investor protection concerns. This must end, and we look forward to continuing to partner with policymakers in a bipartisan manner to safeguard America’s national and economic security interests.”

To end China’s fraud on our markets, ASA urged the Commission to recommend that Congress require the SEC to:

1. Terminate the 2013 Memorandum of Understanding;

2. Deregister every Chinese company that doesn’t meet the same company-specific governance, disclosure, audit, and financial reporting standards as U.S. companies;

3. Force index funds to remove and exchanges to delist any Chinese company that is on the OFAC sanctions list, the U.S. Department of Defense list of Communist Chinese military companies, or the U.S. Department of Commerce ‘entity list’;

4. Close the passive index loophole which allows index funds to steer American investor savings into opaque and financially questionable Chinese companies listed on mainland Chinese exchanges; and

5. Clearly and publicly outline the legal redress or lack thereof that American investors can seek if they are harmed by registered Chinese companies.

To read ASA’s full testimony, click here.

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ASA’s regional financial services companies work in communities across the country to create jobs, grow the economy, and increase prosperity for all Americans. The ASA exclusively represents the capital market and private client interests of its members and seeks to promote free market principles making it easier to access financial advice and capital. ASA members help Americans save for retirement, provide Main Street businesses with capital to grow, and advise hardworking Americans how to create and preserve wealth. For the latest updates follow @AmerSecurities and learn more at http://americansecurities.org/.