HSBC CEO Noel Quinn. Photo credit: HSBC

HSBC, the banking giant, has denied Chinese media reports that the company had “framed” telecom giant Huawei and played a role in the arrest of the company’s CFO, Meng Wanzhou. China’s official People’s Daily newspaper recently published a report that accused HSBC of being an accomplice of the U.S. and lying about Huawei in order to establish a case that led to the arrest of its CFO Meng Wanzhou, who was taken into custody in December 2018 in Canada on a warrant from the US. Meng is accused of bank fraud for misleading HSBC about Huawei’s relationship with a corporate entity operating in Iran, where U.S. sanctions laws abide. She’s currently fighting requested extradition to the United States.

In a statement posted to its official WeChat account, HSBC asserts that it only provided factual information in response to requests from the U.S. Department of Justice and that it has not ‘fabricated’ evidence or ‘concealed’ facts, in relation to the case. “The context of the development of the Huawei incident clearly shows that the U.S. investigation of Huawei was not triggered by HSBC,” the company’s statement read. The report published by the People’s Daily newspaper claimed that HSBC was very much aware of Huawei’s business in Iran, and had been “setting traps” for the company since 2012.

Still battling accusations of fraud, Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou is currently under house arrest in the city of Vancouver, Canada.