调查 | 年末业绩压力催生“财报美化”业务，资金中介提供高息资金拆借或成造假“帮凶”

Core Viewpoint - The article highlights the growing underground business of "financial statement beautification" among listed and pre-IPO companies, where funds are manipulated to enhance financial metrics without real business backing [1][3][18]. Group 1: Business Operations - The core of the "year-end financial statement optimization" business involves short-term fund lending services provided by financial intermediaries, which facilitate the circulation of funds among designated accounts to superficially improve key financial indicators [1][12]. - Financial intermediaries openly promote services for various stock exchanges, claiming to optimize financial statements for companies of all sizes, with individual transactions reaching up to ten billion [3][4]. - The process involves signing dual agreements, including a confidentiality clause, and requires companies to provide various documentation for fund transfers, which are often conducted in major financial cities [14][15]. Group 2: Legal and Regulatory Implications - The actions of financial intermediaries, aware that their funds are used for financial fraud, may constitute complicity in false statements, violating securities laws and potentially leading to criminal liability [2][18]. - The high costs associated with these services, with annualized interest rates exceeding 70%, pose significant financial burdens on companies already in distress [17]. - Regulatory bodies maintain a strict stance against financial fraud, emphasizing that both companies seeking to beautify their financial statements and the intermediaries providing funds will face severe legal consequences [19][18].