Yahoo Finance HSBC to give 'Princess of Huawei' key documents to help fight extradition
HSBC has struck a deal with Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou over producing bank records that are expected to be significant in helping her fight extradition to the US.
Ms Meng, known as the 'Princess of Huawei', is currently under house arrest in Canada, facing extradition to the US over allegations that she committed bank fraud by misleading HSBC over links between Chinese telecom giant Huawei and Skycom.
US authorities allege that the links between Huawei and Skycom enabled Huawei to violate sanctions and sell telecoms equipment to Iran.
Huawei has argued that Skycom was a business partner, and that it has been clear over this relationship, whereas prosecutors claim Skycom was effectively a subsidiary of the Chinese telecom giant.
In a court hearing Monday, Hong Kong High Court judge Linda Chan approved the document-sharing agreement between Huawei and HSBC.
It comes weeks after lawyers for Huawei said records held by HSBC would prove that bank executives knew "the true state of affairs” of deals between Skycom and Huawei.
Ms Meng has been under strict curfew in a house in Vancouver since December 2018, when she was arrested whilst transferring between planes. Last year, she lost her first battle in the case, having been attempting to argue it would be unlawful for Canada to surrender her to the US.
The Supreme Court of British Columbia ruled against her.
Ms Meng's arrest came amid escalating tensions between Washington and Beijing, with her lawyer describing her as a "pawn" in the geopolitical row.
Huawei had been seeking access to documents, emails and minutes from HSBC, but had its request blocked by a judge in the UK last month, citing the fact that Britain's High Court did not have jurisdiction. The case then reached a Hong Kong court.
Huawei lawyers had said Ms Meng needed the documents "in order for her to have a fair hearing in Canada".
The lawyers said: “It is reasonable to assume that HSBC’s books will include records of the risk evaluation it carried out in respect of its relationships with Huawei [and Skycom].” They had argued that US prosecutors had cherry picked key documents.
HSBC had responded by saying the "application for disclosure in the UK is without merit".
“HSBC is not a party to the underlying criminal case in the US or the extradition proceeding in Canada.”
HSBC has found itself repeatedly drawn into the row between the West and China over the past year, with the Telegraph last summer reporting that it had warned Downing Street against a ban of Huawei's equipment in its networks.
At the time, it had also publicly supported "national security" laws in Hong Kong - something which sparked fierce criticism in countries including the UK.
Around 80pc of HSBC's profits come from Hong Kong and mainland China.
HSBC declined to comment on the reporting at the time.
The documents come as Canadian hearings on the extradition request continue, with the case set to wrap up in May.
It has been marred with allegations of misconduct by police and border officials during Ms Meng's arrest, with lawyers for the executive claiming her devices were seized without proper authority and passcodes passed on.
Federal prosecutor have countered that Canadian border officials had the authority to obtain Ms Meng's passcodes, but that they were passed on to police mistakenly. They said public officials had no playbook for how to handle the case.
