On April 9, the Guangdong Supervision Bureau of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (hereinafter referred to as the "Guangdong Supervision Bureau") disclosed the punishment results of the investigation into the fraudulent issuance of Quantum Microelectronics Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Quantum Micro"), and Quantum Microelectronics Co., Ltd. and four responsible persons were administratively punished. Previously, its IPO sponsor, Ping An Securities, and two responsible persons had been taken administrative supervision measures by the Guangdong Regulatory Bureau for designing solutions for Quantum Micro and promoting its implementation to conceal the real transaction, which led to false records in Quantum Micro's IPO application documents.

According to the prospectus, Quantum's main business is the R&D, design and sales of analog integrated circuits, and its main products include audio SoC chips and signal chain chips. The company's products have entered many well-known terminal brand manufacturers, including JBL, Philips, Tesla, BYD, Li Auto, TCL, Lenovo, etc. In 2022, Quantum Micro was rated as a national specialized and special new "little giant" enterprise by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

The reporter of "Economic Information Daily" noticed that Quantum Micro had unsuccessfully sought to be listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board in 2020, and switched to the Growth Enterprise Market two years later, and its listing application was accepted by the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on December 30, 2022. On July 24, 2023, Quantum Micro voluntarily withdrew its IPO application. On August 4 of the same year, the Shenzhen Stock Exchange terminated its IPO review.

The Guangdong Regulatory Bureau's penalty involved the transfer of shares by the largest shareholder of Quantum Micro to management and employees at a low price. In January 2020, Li Mouhua, the largest shareholder of Quantum Micro, transferred 8 million shares of Quantum Micro to Cao, Sun, Liu Mouzhi, Gu Mouxue, etc. at a price of 2 yuan per share. After investigation, the price was significantly lower than the fair price of 6 yuan per share in the same period, and the price difference of 32 million yuan formed by the transfer transaction constituted the share payment of major shareholders to the company's management and employees. On December 30, 2022 and June 30, 2023, Quantum Micro disclosed the updated prospectus (declaration draft) and other documents twice, disclosing the financial data from 2019 to 2022, but did not truthfully disclose the share transfer price, the above matters were not accounted for for share payment, and the current expenses of 32 million yuan were not recognized, resulting in the company's total inflated profit of 32 million yuan in 2020, accounting for 61.13% of the total profit in 2020.

The Guangdong Regulatory Bureau believes that Quantum Micro concealed important facts in the securities issuance documents and disclosed false records in the 2020 financial data, which violated the provisions of the Securities Law and relevant standards; Cao, the chairman and general manager at the time, knew that Li Mouhua transferred shares to the management and employees at a low price, and organized the evasion of confirming the share payment, and was the person in charge directly responsible for the above-mentioned illegal acts; Sun, then director and general manager, Liu Mouzhi, then director and deputy general manager, and Gu Mouxue, then secretary of the board of directors, failed to be diligent and conscientious, and were the other persons directly responsible for the above-mentioned illegal acts, and were all given warnings and fined between 4 million yuan and 1.2 million yuan.

In order to avoid the above-mentioned low-price transfer of shares from constituting a share payment, Ping An Securities, the IPO sponsor of Quantum, designed a solution for Quantum Micro and promoted its implementation to cover up the real transaction, resulting in false records in the IPO application documents of Quantum Micro. On January 23, the Guangdong Regulatory Bureau issued a warning letter to Ping An Securities; Peng Zhaohui, the actual team leader of the project team, and Li Guanghui, the signing agent, were supervised and talked.

It is worth noting that on July 24, 2023, Quantum Micro withdrew its IPO application. According to the announcement of the A-share listed company NOVOSENSE Micro (688052.SH), the company signed the "Share Acquisition Intent Agreement" with 10 shareholders of Quantum Micro on July 17, 2023, intending to acquire 33.63% of the equity of Quantum Micro held by the above shareholders, and the overall valuation of the target company does not exceed 1.5 billion yuan. Subsequently, the acquisition ratio was increased to 67.60% of the shares of Quantum Micro held by 30 shareholders. However, the proposed acquisition was terminated on August 10, 2024. Industry insiders believe that if calculated according to the above valuation, if the acquisition is successful, Cao Jing, chairman of Quantum Micro (holding 15.25% of the shares), may cash out more than 200 million yuan.

The reporter noticed that NOVOSENSE (688052. SH) only disclosed the financial data of Quantum Micro from 2021 to 2022, and said that "the audit report with an unqualified opinion according to the Dahua Shen Zi [2023] No. 001236 standard issued by Dahua Certified Public Accountants was issued". In fact, the Dahua Shen Zi [2023] No. 001236 audit report audited the financial statements of Quantum Micro from 2020 to 2022.