HSBC Holdings has agreed to share documents with lawyers for Huawei Technologies executive Meng Wanzhou. This was after the bank previously beat back demand for documents in a U.K. court. Meng has been under house arrest in Canada since being detained at Vancouver airport in December 2018 on a U.S. warrant.
She has faced charges of bank fraud in the United States for allegedly misleading HSBC about Huawei dealings in Iran. This has caused the bank to violate U.S. sanctions.
Meng, Huawei’s chief financial officer and the eldest daughter of company founder Ren Zhengfei, has denied the charges. She has sought the publication of documents relating to her ongoing efforts to fight deportation from Canada to the U.S.
In February, a British judge blocked internal HSBC documents relating to the fraud allegations against Meng. The legal dispute reached the Hong Kong court in March.
Following a hearing that lasted just a few minutes on Monday morning, Hong Kong High Court Judge Linda Chan issued an order. Representatives of HSBC and Huawei confirmed the agreement but have not provided details. Moreover, the order itself was not immediately available.
Huawei and Skycom Tech
Meng’s lawyers have sought internal compliance notes that pertain to Huawei and Skycom Tech. It was the unit of the Chinese telecoms company in its business dealings with Iran from December 2012 to April 2015.
A seemingly final round of hearings on Meng’s extradition case in Vancouver began last month. It should run through May, although there may be further appeals in the process.
Meng’s company alleges that HSBC made false claims. These were about Huawei’s dealings with Iran in exchange for leniency from U.S. prosecutors over the bank’s actions in the country.
That was what Meng’s lawyers called a “wrongful bargain.” Chinese media have blasted HSBC over its role in her detention.
The bank said it only responded factually to U.S. authorities’ requests for information.
On Monday afternoon, HSBC shares in the stock market were down 1.4% in Hong Kong at HK$45.90.
Meanwhile, in other economic news, Huawei Technologies on Monday said it would invest more in businesses that are less reliant on advanced process techniques. It cited U.S. sanctions that have reduced its access to high-end semiconductors.
The telecommunications company’s rotating chairman, Eric Xu, also told analysts that it would invest more in components for self-driving vehicles. Its global rollout of 5G telecoms networks has “exceeded expectations,” he said.
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