(Adds background from previous ban, raids by Chinese authorities in paragraphs 6-7)
Sept 29 (Reuters) - A senior executive at U.S. risk advisory firm Kroll has been barred from leaving the Chinese mainland, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
Hong Kong-based managing director Michael Chan is assisting an investigation into a case dating back a few years, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. It added that neither Kroll nor Chan were the target of the investigation.
Chan traveled to the mainland in July and subsequently informed his employer that he couldn't leave, the report said. Chan is a Hong Kong passport holder, can move freely in mainland China and is still working, the report added.
Kroll did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment, while China’s Ministry of Public Security and the National Immigration Administration were not immediately available for any comment on Friday, which marked the start of the week-long National Day holidays.
Earlier this week, authorities in China ordered a senior Nomura Holdings banker overseeing the firm's investment banking operations there not to leave the mainland.
Concerns are growing among Western businesses about darkening prospects in the world's second-largest economy at a time of slowing growth, coupled with new laws that make for tougher operating conditions.
Earlier this year, foreign firms were rattled by Chinese authorities' raids on U.S. consultancy firms Bain & Company and Mintz Group. Last month, Beijing fined Mintz about $1.5 million for doing "unapproved statistical work".
(Reporting by Jyoti Narayan in Bengaluru; editing by Christina Fincher)