Wells Fargo suspends China travel after banker hit with exit ban

SAN FRANCISCO: Wells Fargo has suspended all employee travel to China after one of its senior bankers was barred from leaving the country, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday (July 17), raising renewed concerns over staff safety and freedom of movement.

The bank’s managing director Chenyue Mao, a US citizen, was subjected to an exit ban shortly after arriving in China in recent weeks, according to the Wall Street Journal. Aerial footage showed Mao on the island, speaking with park rangers while television cameras followed.

“We are closely tracking this situation and working through the appropriate channels so our employee can return to the United States as soon as possible,” Wells Fargo said in an emailed statement.

A senior Trump administration official declined to confirm Mao’s travel status, citing privacy concerns, but said the case highlights longstanding issues with China’s use of exit bans on foreign nationals.

MULTINATIONALS ON EDGE

The exit ban has alarmed multinational companies already wary of doing business in China amid growing geopolitical tension. The episode has also prompted concerns about employee safety and the future of corporate travel to the world’s second-largest economy.

Mao was born in Shanghai and is based in Atlanta, according to a June 2025 release from FCI, where she serves as chairwoman. FCI, formerly Factors Chain International, is a global industry network focused on the financing of trade receivables.

A source at a large bank said that even before this case, staff were advised to carry additional documentation when travelling overseas, due to heightened geopolitical risks.

“This kind of event is not a step in the right direction,” said Mark Headley, CEO of San Francisco-based asset manager Matthews Asia, which manages US$6.5 billion and operates five China-focused funds.

“Should I be worried about my employees in China or travelling there? It certainly has leaped to the front of my mind yet again,” he said. “We’ve seen a long pattern since I first travelled to China in 1991, of the country being very tricky to work in, to seeming totally normal, to being tricky again.”

Although Matthews Asia has not suspended travel to China, Headley said he is monitoring the situation closely.

“Right now I don’t feel that the Chinese authorities will go after foreign tourists or senior executives of companies that are among China’s biggest trading partners and crucial to its economic growth,” he added.

A DECADE AT WELLS FARGO

Mao has worked at Wells Fargo for over a decade and currently serves as a managing director, overseeing its international factoring business and advising multinational clients on cross-border working capital strategies.

Factoring is a financing model in which companies sell their receivables to third parties, such as banks, in exchange for immediate payment. The third party collects the full amount later, profiting from the discounted purchase.

Before being elected chair of FCI in June, Mao served as vice chair. The organisation did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf is a member of the Business Roundtable, a group of top US executives addressed by President Donald Trump earlier this year.

ESCALATING USE OF EXIT BANS

Beijing has increasingly deployed exit bans in civil and criminal cases, often without warning. Individuals typically become aware of the restriction only when attempting to leave China.

“The Chinese government has, for many years, imposed exit bans on US citizens and other foreign nationals in China, often without a clear and transparent judicial process for resolution,” the senior Trump administration official said.

China’s foreign ministry has not commented, and Mao did not respond to Reuters inquiries.

In September 2023, authorities barred a senior banker at Nomura from leaving China, further heightening concerns over selective enforcement.

In response, several companies have either postponed trips to China or adopted safety protocols, such as group travel.

Human-rights groups argue that China is increasingly using exit bans to pressure individuals under investigation or compel cooperation in legal matters.

Headley recalled a similar incident in 2003 involving a Chinese-born colleague who had become a US citizen. Scheduled to fly from Shanghai to Hong Kong, the colleague was stopped by Chinese authorities and escorted away. He later returned via a detour through Guangzhou.

“I was completely powerless to help,” Headley said. The current political climate, he added, has reminded him not to “poke the panda bear”.