House committee investigation looks at banks for Chinese IPO

The U.S. House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party found that two large U.S. banks underwrote an initial public offering (IPO) for a Chinese military company.

The committee said that JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America helped Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd., a Chinese military company, raise billions of dollars for an IPO on the Hong Kong stock exchange.

“My committee’s investigation calls for serious policy changes to ensure what JPMorgan and Bank of America did never happens again. American banks must not help Chinese military companies raise money, because in doing so, they provide not only access to funding, but also legitimacy and credibility to companies that are helping our adversary build up its military,” Select Committee Chairman Rep. John Moolenaar (R-MI) said.

The Select Committee Moolenaar had previously issued subpoenas to the banks in July 2025 and has since reviewed due diligence materials, risk assessments, third-party reports, and internal approvals. The records call into question CATL’s representations about its military ties and forced labor record.

In a separate deal covered in the investigation, Morgan Stanley sponsored the IPO of Zijin Gold International Co., Ltd., whose parent company and certain subsidiaries are on the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) 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 (UFLPA) Entity List.