HSBC Holdings is making efforts to convince the Chinese government that it is not responsible for the arrest of Huawei Technologies’ Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou.
The U.K.-listed bank is trying to distance itself from the sparring between Beijing and Washington over the Chinese telecom equipment maker, as it has stepped up engagement with Chinese officials after the arrest of Meng in December, according to a report in «Financial Times» (behind paywall), citing several people familiar with the matter. Meng is under house arrest in Vancouver after being detained on a U.S. request.
HSBC has co-operated with U.S. prosecutors by providing information. The prosecutors were building a case against Meng and Huawei but HSBC's move has angered executives at the telecom company, the newspaper said.
Between a Rock and a Hard Place
John Flint, HSBC’s chief executive, and other senior executives have told Chinese officials that it had little choice but to co-operate with the investigation after the U.S. Department of Justice requested information.
«The Chinese are very angry at the treatment of Meng and have asked us about our role in her prosecution. We've told them we had U.S. monitor, with 200 and 400 people inside the bank at any time, that had access to everything: stonewalling the DoJ is not an option,» said an adviser to the bank, who was not identified.
The person added that the situation was «incredibly sensitive» for the bank, which generates about 75 percent of profits in Hong Kong and mainland China. «We are not a party to this case, so it is not appropriate for us to comment,» said an HSBC spokesperson, who was quoted in the «Financial Times».
