Chinese Authorities Announce Delay to Implementation of Basic Standard for Enterprise Internal Control

It looks like the Chinese government is going to announce a six-month delay to the implementation requirement of the Basic Standard for Enterprise Internal Control. This was originally due to go into effect on July 1st; but it now seems that the new implementation date will be January 1, 2010.

The reasons for the change are that many companies seemed very far behind in their preparations and that the government's resources are currently being used to tackle the financial crisis.

This is good news for listed companies because it gives them more breathing room and allows them to build their strategy over the rest of 2009. This will also give the government more time to prepare the implementation guidelines and make sure that industry has clear direction about this new rule.

For a Chinese news story on the delay, see cenn.cn.