Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC has sued Chinese electric-vehicle maker NIO and two executives in the United States for alleged securities fraud, in what the Caixin media group reports is the first case of a sovereign wealth fund suing a US-listed “China-concept” company.
Filed in August 2025, the complaint names NIO, chief executive William Li and former chief financial officer Feng Wei.
Caixin noted that NIO is listed in New York, Hong Kong and Singapore. GIC is one of Singapore’s three state investment arms and ranks among the world’s largest sovereign funds.
According to details reported by Chinese outlets and court filings, including XiakeAuto, GIC’s core allegation is that NIO inflated revenue and profits through its battery-asset affiliate Weineng (NIO Battery Asset Co. Ltd.), created with partners such as CATL to run the company’s Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS) model.
Under BaaS, buyers can buy a car without a battery and pay a monthly rental to Weineng.
GIC argued NIO recognised battery sales revenue upfront when selling packs to Weineng, rather than over time as end-users paid rent, and concealed de-facto control over Weineng.
The fund cited indicators such as Weineng’s dependence on NIO for product types, quantities and pricing; NIO-handled operations and billing; and NIO’s significant economic exposure via receivables and guarantees.
It also pointed to an August 2021 capital change that left NIO with 19.84% of Weineng, just below a common control presumption threshold.
The accounting dispute goes to whether Weineng should be treated as a variable interest entity (VIE) requiring consolidation.
GIC said immediate revenue recognition boosted reported performance, noting NIO’s Q4 2020 revenue rose from 2.85 billion yuan to 6.64 billion yuan year on year.
NIO countered that control and risks transferred to Weineng at sale, its performance obligations were fulfilled, and the transactions were disclosed as related-party items.
The case was stayed earlier this month, pending the outcome of an earlier US class action by investors.
Neither GIC nor NIO provided additional comment in the reports cited.
