For some U.S. investors trying to hold Chinese companies to account, Robert Seiden could be the last, best hope.

Shareholders lost billions of dollars when a wave of U.S.-traded Chinese companies were tarnished by accounting and disclosure concerns in recent years. But U.S. investors have largely been stymied when pursuing Chinese companies in court. Many have simply “gone dark,” abandoning U.S. markets and ignoring U.S. court judgments, and it is hard for investors to go after them in China’s semiclosed society.

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