BEIJING: The Supreme People’s Procuratorate has issued new guidelines to clarify the identification of facts and the application of law in financial fraud cases, underscoring strict penalties for such crimes.
The recently released guidelines outline 15 key points, including general requirements for handling financial fraud cases and criteria for establishing the crime of fraudulent securities issuance. They also detail standards for filing and prosecuting cases involving the illegal disclosure or nondisclosure of important information and the criminal liability of intermediaries and their employees.
According to the guidelines, all parties involved in fraudulent securities issuance and the illegal disclosure or nondisclosure of important information — including listed companies, their controlling shareholders, actual controllers, directors, supervisors, senior management and intermediaries that provide false certification documents — will be held accountable and prosecuted.
In cases where direct economic losses are difficult to calculate accurately, the guidelines call for a professional institution to be commissioned to issue an assessment report. They also provide detailed instructions on calculating the proportion of inflated or understated assets, revenue and profits, as well as the failure to disclose major matters as required.
For complex cases involving multiple layers and numerous company workers, the guidelines recommend tiered and categorized handling.
Intermediaries and their personnel who deliberately provide false certification documents or are grossly negligent in their duties, resulting in significant inaccuracies, will also be held criminally accountable. –The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
