A congressional probe found that Wall Street used billions of dollars of American retirement savings to buy shares in index funds that included blacklisted Chinese firms

A congressional probe found that Wall Street used billions of dollars of American retirement savings to buy shares in index funds that included blacklisted Chinese firms.

The investigation, carried out by a bipartisan House committee tasked with developing strategies for the U.S. to respond to China, focused on BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, and MSCI, a leading index provider, according to the report.

BlackRock and MSCI did not respond immediately to requests for comment from Reuters.

Relations between the U.S. and China, the two largest economies in the world, have been strained in recent years due to various issues, including Taiwan, the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, allegations of espionage, human rights concerns, and trade tariffs.

The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party found that American financial institutions funneled $6.5 billion last year to 63 Chinese companies identified by the U.S. through investments in index funds, the report stated.

The committee could not be reached immediately for comment.