Chinese Firms’ Stocks Halted

Tianhe Chemicals, a Chinese fluorochemicals maker financially backed by the investment bank Morgan Stanley, has had trading of its stock suspended for the second time since listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange last June. Tianhe says it was unable to publish audited financial statements for 2014 within the filing deadline that its Hong Kong listing requires. The company was also unable to estimate when it could provide the statements. Tianhe first saw trading of its stock suspended in September after Anonymous Analytics, an offshoot of the hackers’ group Anonymous, accused the company of being “one of the largest market frauds ever conceived” (C&EN, Oct. 13, 2014, page 17). Tianhe vigorously denied Anonymous Analytics’claims, but its shares tumbled when trading resumed in October. Meanwhile, Beijing-based Sihuan Pharmaceutical has also had trading of its shares suspended in Hong Kong after failing to release its 2014 financial results. Listed in Hong Kong since 2010, Sihuan says it makes and distributes a range of drugs in China.