Huawei has asked a UK court to force HSBC to hand over records it argues could strengthen its case against the extradition of Meng Wanzhou, its chief financial officer and daughter of the company’s founder.
Justice Fordham, a high court judge in the UK, heard arguments from both the Chinese technology company and the bank on Friday. He said he hoped to hand down a draft judgment next week.
Lawyers for Meng are attempting to stop her extradition to the US from Canada, where she was detained in 2018, to face charges of bank and wire fraud related to allegations that Huawei conducted business in Iran in contravention of US sanctions via a subsidiary called Skycom.
HSBC processed transactions for Skycom in US dollars and provided financial services to Huawei until 2017. It then terminated its relationship with the technology company and, according to an indictment, said Huawei had “repeatedly misrepresented” its business dealing in Iran.
The bank provided information to US prosecutors pursuing the case against Meng and Huawei, which infuriated executives at the telecoms group, the Financial Times has reported.
Huawei disputes that HSBC was deceived. It wants access to HSBC documents relating to a meeting between Meng and a senior banker at a restaurant in Hong Kong in August 2013 when she conducted a PowerPoint presentation about its relationship with Skycom.
HSBC’s entanglement in the diplomatic row has increased the pressure on the London-based bank, which has been struggling to navigate geopolitical tensions between the US, UK and China in recent years. Shortly after the scandal broke, it was accused by a Chinese state-backed newspaper of being “unethical” and was threatened with being added to the country’s “unreliable entity” list.
HSBC has also been criticised for its support of a controversial national security law imposed on Hong Kong and for freezing the accounts of pro-democracy activists. Noel Quinn, chief executive, was grilled by UK MPs two weeks ago over its actions.
Huawei launched the UK proceedings based on an 1879 law called the Bankers’ Book Evidence Act that allows a court or judge to order the inspection of accounts. Its lawyers argued that the documents HSBC had provided to the US Department of Justice were “highly relevant” to Meng’s defence in the extradition case but that she had not been provided with access to them.
HSBC responded that the 1879 law did not apply as the documents in question did not sit within the definition of “bankers’ books” and should not be used to obtain evidence for use in foreign criminal proceedings.
The bank also argued that the UK courts should not intervene in the extradition of the daughter of Huawei’s founder to the US. Lawyers for the bank, which is listed in the UK, said it would be a “strong thing” for the UK courts to step in and provide Huawei with access to the documents, which the US and Canadian authorities have not made available.