- The company issued a statement saying it had been communicating with the committee.
- The information from the probe would be used to better shape U.S. policy towards China.
BlackRock, a firm that manages $9 trillion in assets, is under investigation by the US government for possible illegal Chinese investments. Legislators are concerned that Americans’ retirement savings are being used to prop up Chinese companies that the United States has blacklisted due to security and human rights concerns. According to the WSJ, BlackRock, and MSCI were informed on Monday about the investigations by the House of Representatives Select Committee.
BlackRock is under investigation by the US government only two weeks after the SEC acknowledged BlackRock’s Spot Bitcoin ETF application.
National Security Threat
Moreover, it is hoped that the information gleaned from the probe would be used to better shape U.S. policy towards China, notably with respect to the movement of capital from the United States. U.S. corporations are “exacerbating an already significant national-security threat and undermining American values,” the letters argued because they are diverting “massive flows of American capital” to such Chinese enterprises.
Both the panel’s Republican chairman, Wisconsin Representative Mike Gallagher, and the panel’s top Democrat, Illinois Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, signed the letters. The panel also notes that BlackRock has invested over $429 million across five different investments in similar Chinese businesses. Moreover, the company issued a statement saying it had been communicating with the committee to address its concerns.
The firm stated:
“The majority of our clients’ investments in China are through index funds, and we are one of 16 asset managers currently offering U.S. index funds investing in Chinese companies.”
Many investors utilize indexes compiled by MSCI to form the basis of their portfolios. Over $13 trillion in assets are measured against MSCI’s products. The company issued a statement saying it is investigating the committee’s concerns.
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