The liquidators have accused PwC of being negligent in its audit work of the firm. 

PwC signed off on Evergrande’s accounts for fourteen years before it collapsed in 2021, after it defaulted on loans of over $300bn.

A Hong Kong court heard on Monday that the liquidators, Edward Middleton ⁠and Tiffany Wong of Alvarez & Marsal, were seeking 57 billion yuan ($8.4 billion), which they could use to repay some of the firm’s creditors.

The hearing centred on how much responsibility PwC International should bear, versus Evergrande’s regional businesses in China and Hong Kong. 
PwC’s legal team argued that the regional businesses were separate entities, whereas the liquidators claim that PwC International sits at the top of the group and is responsible for maintaining the standards of member firms. 

A judgment is expected to be handed down within three months, The Times reports.

A spokesman for PwC commented: “PwC International is the co-ordinating entity for the PwC network. It has never provided any services to Evergrande, and so it sought to strike out the claim wrongly brought against it.”