LONDON (Reuters) -The chair of a British parliamentary committee wrote on Thursday to the London Stock Exchange to raise concerns about evidence given by a Shein representative at a hearing this week, and to ask how the exchange checks statements by firms looking to list.
The lack of response by Shein’s general counsel for Europe, the Middle East and Africa to lawmakers’ questions about its supply chain at a committee hearing on Tuesday made lawmakers “profoundly concerned”, chair Liam Byrne said in the letter to the LSE CEO Julia Hoggett.
Online fast-fashion retailer Shein is working towards a London IPO in the first half of this year but has faced scrutiny over its mainly China-based suppliers and working practices.
In the letter Byrne asked “what checks, if any, the London Stock Exchange has in place to authenticate statements by firms seeking to list, with particular regard to their safeguards against the use of forced labour in their products.”
Byrne also wrote to Britain’s financial regulator, which is in charge of assessing and approving stock market listings such as Shein’s, asking it how it ensures all legal risks are disclosed prior to an IPO.
(Reporting by Helen Reid, Editing by Matt Scuffham)
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