HSBC agrees in Hong Kong court to share documents with Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou
HSBC on Monday reached an agreement to share documents with lawyers for Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou following her weeks-long quest for the files to help fight extradition from Canada to the United States.
Meng, 49, also known as Sabrina, was detained at Vancouver airport in December 2018 on a U.S. warrant. Washington alleges that she had committed fraud by misleading the London-based bank about Huawei’s business deals in Iran during a 2013 meeting, which violated the economic sanctions imposed by the U.S. against the Middle East country.
The eldest daughter of company founder Ren Zhengfei has denied the accusation, saying that instead of being misled, HSBC had known about the Chinese telecoms company’s dealings in Iran.
Attorneys for the chief financial officer failed in their petition to a British court to require HBSC to share the information in February, so she turned to the Hong Kong courts in March.
During a minutes-long hearing, High Court Justice Linda Chan issued an order regarding the document-sharing settlement, although the scope of the order was not immediately clear. The agreement itself was also believed to remain confidential.
“An agreement has been reached with HSBC in relation to the Hong Kong legal proceedings for document production and an order has been approved by the court,” a Huawei spokesperson said on Monday.
Meng had previously requested HSBC to disclose its risk committee’s assessment from December 2012 to April 2015 of the regulatory, sanctions, credit and reputational risks of Huawei, its related companies Skycom Tech and Skycom Tech’s parent company Canicula Holdings, as well as documents that assessed whether HSBC should continue its relationships with these three companies.
The plaintiff had also demanded she should have the right to inspect and copy the files and use them in the ongoing deportation case which the U.S. government filed in the High Court of British Columbia, Canada, more than two years ago.
The eldest daughter of company founder Ren Zhengfei has denied the accusation, saying that instead of being misled, HSBC had known about the Chinese telecoms company’s dealings in Iran.
Attorneys for the chief financial officer failed in their petition to a British court to require HBSC to share the information in February, so she turned to the Hong Kong courts in March.
During a minutes-long hearing, High Court Justice Linda Chan issued an order regarding the document-sharing settlement, although the scope of the order was not immediately clear. The agreement itself was also believed to remain confidential.
“An agreement has been reached with HSBC in relation to the Hong Kong legal proceedings for document production and an order has been approved by the court,” a Huawei spokesperson said on Monday.
Meng had previously requested HSBC to disclose its risk committee’s assessment from December 2012 to April 2015 of the regulatory, sanctions, credit and reputational risks of Huawei, its related companies Skycom Tech and Skycom Tech’s parent company Canicula Holdings, as well as documents that assessed whether HSBC should continue its relationships with these three companies.
The plaintiff had also demanded she should have the right to inspect and copy the files and use them in the ongoing deportation case which the U.S. government filed in the High Court of British Columbia, Canada, more than two years ago.
