CHINESE units of the Big Four auditing firms will file an appeal against a US judge’s decision to suspend them from practicing in the US for six months, they said in a joint statement today.

Securities and Exchange Commission Administrative Law Judge Cameron Elliot yesterday censured Chinese units of KPMG, Deloitte & Touche, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ernst and Young for “willfully” failing to give the US securities regulator the audit work papers of certain Chinese companies under investigation for ac-counting fraud.

The ruling will not be effective until reviewed and approved by the full SEC committee.

The Big Four called the decision “regrettable” and said they will appeal.

“It is regrettable that the SEC’s administrative law judge has recommended sanctions against the Big Four firms in China for failing to produce work papers to the SEC in circumstances where such production would have violated Chinese law and regulations,” the statement said. “The firms intend to appeal and thereby initiate the review without delay.”

They said the firms can and will continue to serve all their clients without interruption in the meantime.

The ruling is the latest escalation in the long-running standoff between China and US securities regulators over accessibility to audit documents of US-listed Chinese firms.

Chinese Securities Regulatory Commission agreed in May with US counterparts to hand in audit papers of some companies.

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