Report: Banks Bar Chinese and Hong Kong Investors from Anthropic IPO Over US Export Controls
Bloomberg reports that multiple banks are rejecting buy orders from mainland China and Hong Kong for Anthropic's IPO, citing US ITAR export control rules.
According to Bloomberg, multiple banks leading Anthropic's upcoming initial public offering (IPO) have reportedly rejected buy orders from investors in mainland China and Hong Kong, or consider allocations to these regions unlikely. Some individuals involved cited the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), which governs the export of defense-related goods, as the reason. Anthropic declined to comment.
The offering is led by Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, with 20 other banks involved. The stock is expected to trade on Nasdaq under the ticker ANT after pricing on November 18. Previous reports indicated that Anthropic's IPO was six times oversubscribed, with a target valuation of roughly $1.4 trillion.
Anthropic's products are not officially available in China or Hong Kong, and the company has previously blocked firms under Chinese control from its AI services while accusing companies like DeepSeek of data theft. This geopolitical context highlights how US export controls are directly shaping the capital structure and investor base for frontier AI companies.