Business Wells Fargo executive barred from leaving China, as bank suspends travel there

Wells Fargo has suspended all employee travel to China after a U.S. executive was barred from leaving the country last week due to “a criminal case,” several national news outlets have reported.

China blocked Wells Fargo banker Chenyue Mao, a Shanghai-born managing director based in Atlanta, from leaving the country because “she is required to assist in a criminal probe” Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told the Wall Street Journal on Monday. Exit bans can last for months or years during investigations.

Wells Fargo is based in San Francisco and has 215,000 employees, including 27,000 in its largest employment hub in Charlotte. The bank declined The Charlotte Observer’s request for comment.

The bank is “working through the appropriate channels” to secure Mao’s return, national and international news outlets have reported.

It’s unclear why Mao was in China or how she is potentially linked to a criminal case.

Mao is a managing director for Wells Fargo credit solutions, according to her LinkedIn profile. She has worked at the bank for nearly 14 years. She also is the chair for FCI (Factors Chain International), a global group representing international trade finance transactions.

U.S. warning about travel to China

In November, the U.S. Embassy in Beijing issued a travel advisory to “exercise increased caution when traveling to Mainland China due to arbitrary enforcement of local laws, including in relation to exit bans.”

China’s exit ban is a policy that stops people from leaving the country due to legal or political reasons, and affects both Chinese citizens and foreigners, including Americans, according to Choi & Partners, Chinese law experts based in China. Individuals commonly affected include business people and expatriates.

Wells Fargo has more than 1,500 employees in Asia Pacific, according to the bank. Wells Fargo’s regional headquarters are based in Hong Kong, with additional offices in Australia, Bangladesh, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand.

The exit ban comes during President Donald Trump’s trade war of imposed and threatened tariffs with China.