NEW YORK, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Morgan Stanley's ( MS )

underwriting of Zijin Gold International's ( ZJNGF ) Hong Kong

IPO placed it and its U.S. investors at risk of regulatory,

financial and reputational harm, a U.S. House of

Representatives committee told the bank on Thursday.

Zijin Gold ( ZJNGF ) is a subsidiary of Zijin Mining Group

, a global mining company based in China that is on a

U.S. government list of companies whose imports are banned over

alleged human rights abuses involving Uyghurs.

In September, Morgan Stanley ( MS ) assisted with Zijin Gold's ( ZJNGF ) IPO

to help its parent company raise funds by selling its

non-Chinese gold mining assets and listing them on the Hong Kong

Stock Exchange, the House's select committee on China said. That

raised questions of whether it helped Zijin Mining evade the

U.S. prohibitions, according to the committee.

Morgan Stanley ( MS ) declined to comment. Zijin Gold ( ZJNGF ) and Zijin

Mining did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

"When U.S. financial institutions engage with Chinese firms

linked to Uyghur forced labor, they undermine the U.S.

government's goal of deterring forced labor globally,"

Representative John Moolenaar, the committee's chair, wrote in a

letter to Morgan Stanley ( MS ) CEO Ted Pick.

In January, Zijin Mining was added to the Uyghur Forced

Labor Prevention Act Entity List, which restricts imports tied

to what the U.S. says is an ongoing genocide of minorities in

China's western Xinjiang region.

U.S. officials say Chinese authorities have established

labor camps for Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups in

Xinjiang. Beijing denies any abuses.

In the letter, Moolenaar seeks documents and communications

about Morgan Stanley's ( MS ) involvement in the public offering

related to the company's links to the Chinese government,

Chinese Communist Party, military, and human rights abuses. He

asked for the information by November 27.

The letter is the latest action by his committee on U.S.

financial institutions' involvement in underwriting IPOs of

Chinese companies with ties to the Chinese military or to

illegal labor practices.

In July, the committee subpoenaed documents from JPMorgan ( JPM )

and Bank of America ( BAC ) over their roles in

underwriting the Hong Kong IPO of China's CATL, the

world's largest electric vehicle battery maker. CATL has been

designated a Chinese military company by the U.S. Department of

Defense.