A congressional investigation found that Wall Street used billions of dollars of American retirement savings and other investments to buy shares in index funds that included several blacklisted Chinese companies, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
The probe, conducted by a bipartisan House committee empowered to devise strategies for the US to counter China, focused on world’s largest asset manager BlackRock, headed by Larry Fink, and index provider MSCI, the report said.
BlackRock and MSCI did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, above. REUTERS
Ties between the US and China, the world’s two largest economies, have been strained in recent years due to issues including Taiwan, the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, allegations of spying, human rights issues and trade tariffs.
The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party concluded that through investments in index funds, American financial institutions funneled $6.5 billion last year to some 63 Chinese companies flagged by the US, the report said.
The committee could not be immediately reached for a comment.