Chinese e-commerce website Vipshop listed on the New York Stock Exchange in March 2012. In May 2015, it was attacked by Mithra Forensic Research alleging that it was inflating sales via transactions through related parties. J-Capital joined the fray the next day, alleging that SEC and local filings did not match. The company denied all the allegations. Two weeks later, short-seller GeoInvesting issued a report in defence of Vipshop, claiming that its work on the company contradicted the claims and validated Vipshop's business. Undeterred, J-Capital (3 reports) and Mithra (6 reports) published a total of nine reports between May 2015 and April 2016 which contributed to a halving of Vipshop's share price. However, the company's auditor, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, signed off on the FY15 financial statements without incident. Whilst there might be some truth to the allegations that the company window-dressed its cash flow statement, this is not illegal. As such, the allegations against Vipshop remain unproven. 

Last updated October 2021

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