One reason U.S. banks should decouple for real from the People’s Republic of China—not merely “decouple” their data from being surveilled by the Chinese government—is stated by the House Select Committee on the CCP. It recently conducted an investigation into some of the doings of JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Morgan Stanley (May 21, 2026).
JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America “Helped a Chinese Military Company Raise Billions of Dollars.” They helped Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd (CATL) raise billions even though it has ties to the People’s Liberation Army. In fact, the U.S. banks underwrote CATL’s initial public offering on the Hong Kong stock exchange just months after the United States government had designated CATL a PRC military company.
Don’t do that
The chairman of the Select Committee, Congressman John Moolenaar, says that American banks “must not help Chinese military companies raise money, because in doing so, they provide not only access to funding, but alo legitimacy and credibility to companies that are helping our adversary build up its military.”
The investigation also found that “in a separate deal covered in the investigation, Morgan Stanley sponsored the IPO of Zijin Gold International Co., Ltd. (Zijin Gold), whose parent company and certain subsidiaries are on the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List…. According to the report, Morgan Stanley proceeded to sponsor the IPO despite clear knowledge that Zijin Mining and its Xinjiang subsidiaries had been placed on the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List.”
Which raises the question what is the point of the Entity List if it can be so freely ignored.
One of the report’s recommendations is that U.S. financial institutions should be prohibited “from raising capital for blacklisted foreign adversary entities, no matter where listed.” Which might work, if the prohibition is clearcut and includes penalties harsh enough to discourage the practice.
Bankrolling Beijing
The report, Bankrolling Beijing, notes that in helping CATL raise funds, JPMorgan and Bank of America “broke no U.S. law and the transactions were not prohibited by U.S. law, but each bank made the choice to disregard the U.S. government’s Chinese military company designation in order to make millions of dollars. If doing the deal once was not troubling enough, JPMorgan Chase (JPMorgan), Bank of America, and Morgan Stanley are also doing a second offering for the same Chinese military company to raise billions more.”
JPMorgan and Bank of America ignored requests for “complete information or documents to explain their risk analysis, due diligence process, or conclusions regarding CATL’s links to China’s military and human rights abuses” until the Select Committee issued subpoenas.
In consequence of which, it learned that:
The banks trusted CATL’s representations that [the Department of War’s] designation of CATL as a Chinese military company was “erroneous” over the considered judgment of the U.S. government.
According to documents produced to the Select Committee, CATL failed to completely answer questions on both JPMorgan and Bank of America’s due diligence questionnaires regarding its designation on the 1260H List.
Bank of America’s third-party due diligence report relied primarily on a series of quotations by unnamed sources who were not involved in the designation….
JPMorgan ultimately determined that CATL does not “have business transaction[s] that involved the arms industry or military items or ‘dual use’ goods or technology that can be used for military purpose.”…
The 55-page report’s understated conclusion: “These outcomes reflect due diligence processes oriented toward facilitating transactions rather than genuinely identifying risk….”
Any one report on this kind of conduct by the select committee, other congressional committees, think tanks, and investigative journalists can reveal only part of the very big picture of how Western institutions and organizations have been enabling our own would-be destroyers.
Also see:
The New York Times: “JPMorgan Tracked Business Linked to China Hiring” (December 7, 2013)
“For two decades, Wall Street banks have sought out China’s so-called princelings, turning family and friends of senior officials into bank employees and consultants.”
Stanford University: “Examining The JPMorgan “Princeling” Settlement: Insight Into Current Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) Interpretation and Enforcement” (2018)
CNBC: “Jamie Dimon walks back remarks that JPMorgan would outlast China’s communist party” (November 24, 2021)
Lei’s Real Talk: “Epstein’s Backchannel: The Secret Pipeline Between Wall Street and Beijing” (February 15, 2026)
