Funding of the Iran-China Strategic Partnership via the U.S. Capital Markets
Elias Sköld, Emma Sage, Nico Mastrangelo / 31 Jan 2024
PSSI's research reveals a regulatory crisis in global finance: American investment funds have been funneled into Chinese companies which bolster and support Iran’s rogue activities. This report highlights 40 such companies, which cumulatively enjoy U.S.-based investments valued at over $6 billion. This alarming relationship, driven by major U.S. asset managers like Vanguard, State Street, and Dimensional, demonstrates how Western funds are inadvertently supporting Iran's role as a principal state sponsor of terror.
These 40 companies have ties to Tehran’s most vital strategic sectors, including military, oil and gas, and surveillance/communication. Furthermore, this report includes 18 examples of American investments being funneled into the corporate structures of Chinese entities which are currently sanctioned by the U.S. Government. In light of Iran’s role in supporting Hamas, the Houthis, and other regional terrorist groups, and given China’s role in supporting the Iranian regime, Western investor funding of this relationship must end.
This Perspective therefore urges American lawmakers to swiftly prohibit American investment in these 40 Chinese companies, and to make it illegal for U.S. persons to own their securities. It also calls for a comprehensive investigation by U.S. regulatory and national security bodies into the broader scope of U.S. financial involvement in these China-Iran ties, as the actual figures may far exceed the $6 billion identified here.
Download the Perspective below.