The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is investigating U.S.-listed Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba over its accounting practices and whether there have been any violations of the U.S. securities laws.
´The investigation includes Alibaba's accounting for its logistics unit, Cainiao Network, and reporting practices for Singles Day, a major sales event in China, the company disclosed in its
annual report.
The Hangzhou, China-based company said it is providing documents and is cooperating with the probe.
"The SEC advised us that the initiation of a request for information should not be construed as an indication by the SEC or its staff that any violation of the federal securities laws has
occurred," the e-commerce firm said.
"This matter is ongoing, and, as with any regulatory proceeding, we cannot predict when it will be concluded."
Alibaba suspected of selling counterfeit goods
Earlier this year, Alibaba faced criticism by western brands for not doing enough to prevent sales of counterfeit goods on its platform, and was recently stripped of its International
Anti-counterfeiting Coalition (IACC) membership after three IACC members left the organisation, and an anonymous membership group threatened to quit the group in protest at Alibaba's
inclusion.
Only recently, The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA) rang the alarm bell, citing OECD figures that Intellectual Property Rights infringed goods worth estimated €218 billion pass
illegally across borders each year, with increasing tendency.
Most of these items (66 percent) come from Chinese producers and distributers, followed by Hong Kong (13 percent).
Nol van Fenema