JPMorgan and BofA Pressured to Exit CATL IPO Over Concerns
By Karen Freifeld
(Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co and Bank of America should withdraw from working on the initial public offering of Chinese electric vehicle battery giant CATL, a Republican lawmaker said on Thursday.
John Moolenaar, who chairs the House Select Committee on China, said he sent letters to JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon and Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan, urging them to pull out of underwriting the upcoming Hong Kong IPO.
CATL has been designated as a Chinese military company by the U.S. Department of Defense, and its lithium-ion batteries may soon power China's submarine fleet, Moolenaar wrote in the letter to Dimon. He also alleged the company has ties to a paramilitary entity that operates forced labor camps for the Uyghur minority in China's Xinjiang region.
"If JPMorgan and Bank of America proceed with this IPO, they risk complicity in underwriting genocide, undermining American industry and endangering U.S. service members," Moolenaar said in a statement.
Spokespeople for JPMorgan and Bank of America declined comment.
CATL, the world's largest electric vehicle battery maker, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. After its addition to the Department of Defense's list in January, it said it was "not engaged in any military-related activities." CATL also has denied having suppliers from the Xinjiang region.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The listing on the Hong Kong exchange is set to happen in the second quarter of this year. Reuters previously reported that CATL is aiming to raise at least $5 billion with the listing, which would mark the largest in Hong Kong in four years since Kuaishou Technology raised $6.2 billion in an initial public offering.
In January, Reuters reported that CATL was a major supplier of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries to Tesla for its Shanghai factory, the U.S. automaker's largest.
(Reporting by Karen Freifeld; Editing by Anna Driver)
