Liquidators of China Evergrande Group have filed a lawsuit in a Hong Kong court against PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) seeking 57bn yuan ($8.4bn) in damages for alleged negligent audit work.
The claim, brought by liquidators Edward Middleton and Tiffany Wong of Alvarez & Marsal, was made against PwC International, PwC Hong Kong and PwC China.
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PwC International’s potential maximum liability is put at 38bn yuan.
Any payout would be in addition to fines already imposed on PwC after Evergrande’s collapse, which left more than $300bn (2.04tn yuan) in liabilities.
The latest court hearing focused on how far PwC International, as the global coordinating entity, can be held responsible, according to a Reuters report.
PwC International’s lawyer argued it should not be a defendant, saying the PwC network is made up of separate companies, with the Hong Kong and China practices not subsidiaries of PwC International.
The lawyer said there were no dealings between PwC International and Evergrande and that it had no “duty of care” regarding the audits.
Counsel for the liquidators argued that PwC International sits at the top of the network and is responsible for maintaining standards across member companies.
The Deputy High Court Judge at the court said he expects to issue a ruling within three months.
Evergrande defaulted on offshore debt payments in late 2021 and was ordered into liquidation by the Hong Kong High Court in 2024.
PwC’s Chinese arm received a six‑month suspension and a record 441m yuan fine from Chinese regulators in 2024 over its Evergrande work.
The China Securities Regulatory Commission found that accounting entity PwC Zhong Tian “turned a blind eye” and “even condoned” Evergrande’s lapses.
Hong Kong authorities separately ruled that PwC Hong Kong had seriously breached professional duties in its Evergrande audits.
Last month, the company was fined HK$300m ($38.3m) and suspended for six months for the failures.
Creditor claims against Evergrande total around $45bn, while only around $255m in assets had been realised through sales as of August last year, the news agency added, citing the liquidators.
