From Undercurrent News

Financially troubled Pacific Andes International Holding (PAIH) has once again asked Hong Kong securities regulators for more time to file its 2015 annual report as a forensic review of the company hasn’t finished yet.

The company’s 2015 fiscal year ended on Sept. 28 last year but a previous liquidation proceeding, which has now ended, resulted in the appointment of an independent review committee (IRC), which hired the Hong Kong-branch of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to perform a forensic review of the company’s books.

That review commenced on March 17 and is still ongoing.

“Currently, the IRC and the Company are reviewing the progress and projected cost of the forensic review with a view to accelerating its completion, while keeping the cost within an acceptable budget,” PAIH said in a press release.

The forensic review’s findings need to be incorporated into the 2015 results, which means that a further delay of indeterminate length is needed, the company said.

The company will also need more time to file its financial results for the first half of 2016, which was due on May 27th.

Previously the company made an application on Feb. 26 for an extension of time to April 30 to announce the 2015 results.

The rationale for the further extension application was that joint provisional liquidators (JPLs) of the company and its subsidiary China Fisheries International Limited, were appointed on Nov. 25 in Hong Kong and Dec. 8 in the Cayman Islands.

The JPLs appointments were removed on Jan. 5 in Hong Kong and Jan. 28 in the Cayman Islands.

The company made earlier applications to the Singapore stock exchange for extensions of time to announce its full year results due to uncertainty concerning the carrying amounts and disclosure of certain assets and liabilities, following the appointments of the JPLs.

As a result, the company was unable to work on the finalization of its results until the JPLs were removed, which occurred on Jan. 28.

The company will announce the outcome of the further extension application in due course, it said.

On Nov. 26, 2015, HSBC unveiled it had applied to a court in Hong Kong to wind up China Fishery Group and appoint a liquidator.

Hong Kong-based China Fishery is majority owned by Pacific Andes Resources Development, itself controlled by Singapore-listed PAIH.

IMAGE: Seafood Expo Global, May 2015, Brussels, Belgium. Photo: Miriam Okarimia/ Undercurrent News

For more on this story go to: https://www.undercurrentnews.com/2016/06/02/pacific-andes-needs-more-time-to-file-2015-results-as-forensic-review-drags-on/