A bipartisan House Select Committee on China concluded Wednesday that trading platform Webull maintains "structural ties" to the Chinese government, representing a national security threat to the U.S. financial system. The committee's report, shared exclusively with CNBC before its public release, found a "profound gap" between Webull's public marketing as an American company and the actual control and operations of the St. Petersburg, Florida-based firm.
Webull, which operates globally and counts 28 million users across 18 markets, is a Nasdaq-traded company founded in 2016 by former Alibaba and Xiaomi manager Wang Anquan. The platform offers retail and institutional investors access to stocks, exchange-traded funds, options, futures, fractional shares, and digital assets. According to the report, Webull Financial holds $24.6 billion in customer assets.
The committee identified several structural vulnerabilities linking the company to China. These include Webull's ownership architecture, technical workforce, technology infrastructure, cross-border data routing, corporate financing, and compliance frameworks. The report emphasized that "Webull's software development, data pipelines, and core engineering operations" depend on infrastructure directly subject to Beijing's laws. Chinese law allows the government to compel firms to cooperate in various ways, including mandatory data transfers and compliance with intelligence demands.
The congressional panel's national security concerns escalated following October 2025, when Webull began holding customer cash directly, according to regulatory filings cited in the report. The committee asserted this creates "structural exposure of billions of dollars in American capital." Additionally, the committee alleged that Webull misrepresented its workforce to lawmakers. According to the report, when initially questioned in 2024, Webull stated it had no offices or employees in China and that all employees were based in the United States. However, the committee found that Webull's mainland China subsidiary, Hunan Weibu, employs 863 people—representing 62 percent of the company's global workforce.
The corporate structure involves multiple entities across different jurisdictions. Webull Corp. is incorporated in the Cayman Islands as a holding company, while the firm also has a U.S. holding company known as Webull Holdings (US) Inc. and a Singapore-based entity, Webull Technologies Pte. Ltd., that supports technology development and platform operations.
Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Michigan, who chairs the House Select Committee on China, stated in a comment to CNBC: "Webull's China-based operations put American investors and their data at risk. Using technology providers in mainland China and an opaque China-linked ownership structure, Webull exposes its data to our foremost adversary. Investors should heed this information when choosing who they do business with."
Webull strongly disputed the committee's findings. A company spokesperson said via email: "It is deeply disappointing that the Select Committee published a report containing significant inaccuracies and unsupported conclusions without ever seeking clarification from Webull." The company stated that its U.S. business is conducted from its global headquarters in St. Petersburg and its New York City office, with U.S. customer data stored domestically and access to sensitive information controlled by the United States. The spokesperson added that Webull remains prepared to address questions "with the same transparency we bring to the SEC, FINRA, and regulators worldwide."
Webull's stock dropped 18 percent in morning trading following the report's release. The company competes with platforms including Robinhood, Charles Schwab, and E-Trade in the retail investment space.
