Canadian Ambassador’s Marriage to Blackrock APAC Boss Raises Conflict of Interest Concerns

Just months after Canada fired its ambassador to China for questioning his country’s approach to the US-Huawei dispute, the North American country’s chosen replacement is facing questions of potential conflicts of interest surrounding his wife’s role as head of Blackrock for Asia Pacific.

Dominic Barton, a former McKinsey managing partner who married BlackRock’s Asia Pacific chairman and CEO Geraldine Buckingham in January of this year, was appointed as Canada’s top representative to Beijing earlier this month.

The juxtaposition between Buckingham representing a company that is aiming to become one of the first foreign asset managers to win a license in China with Barton being tasked with bringing home Canadian citizens held by Beijing, has precipitated questions from political commentators in Canada and elsewhere.

BlackRock Stakes Out Separate Worlds

“Geraldine Buckingham and Dominic Barton lead separate and independent careers,” a BlackRock spokesperson said in response to an enquiry from Mingtiandi. “Geraldine remains based in Hong Kong, and Dominic Barton is not involved in BlackRock’s business.”

BlackRock’s spokesperson added that the company has strict policies and procedures in place to ensure its business is conducted in accordance with the highest standards.

The Trudeau government’s choice of Barton, who until recently was on the advisory board of Chinese central government policy institution China Development Bank, and also served as a director of a Canadian firm dependent on coal exports to China, was quick to draw criticism from the opposition back home.

“Mr. Barton has had great success in the private sector and has been a senior advisor to the Trudeau government, but he has no experience in diplomacy headed into a major diplomatic crisis,” conservative Canadian foreign affairs expert Erin O’Toole said in a statement. “ An experienced diplomat is needed at this critical juncture, not a corporate executive advocating for doing business with China as usual.”

The North American country’s relationship with China is at a low point following the apprehension at Vancouver airport on 1 December of Meng Wanzhou, who is the daughter of Huawei founder, Ren Zhengfei.

The arrest triggered a series of retaliatory measures by Beijing, including the detention of two Canadian nationals on 10 December and a ban on canola seed exports, which were worth $2.7 billion to Canada businesses in 2018.

China continues to hold former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig and compatriot Michael Spavor incommunicado, while Meng Wanzhou is free on bail.

His and Hers Conflict Questions

Other commentators have questioned whether the former McKinsey & Company managing director’s past professional experience and his marriage to the lead Asia executive of a company which has made China a top priority could give rise to conflicts of interest.

“I’d be surprised if Beijing was not aware of this, presumably thinking they could use it to their advantage,” said Jorge Guarjardo, Mexico’s former ambassador to China, was cited as saying in an account in Canadian daily The Star.

Guarjardo, who held diplomatic responsibilities in China from 2007 until 2013, said that he expected Buckingham to quit her position at BlackRock as it presented Barton with a clear conflict of interest.

In April last year Blackrock global chairman Larry Fink identified China as a critical BlackRock priority and the corporate boss has set his sights on making the firm one of the first foreign asset managers to win approval to raise renminbi funds in China.

Appointed as Blackrock’s chief for the region late last year, Buckingham is tasked with deepening relationships with clients in China, and was given primary responsibility for the firm’s institutional business in China five months ago, according to an internal memo cited by the Nikkei Asian Review.

Listed as an adjunct professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing, Barton was the global managing director of McKinsey & Company from 2009 to 2018.