Attorney General Todd Rokita is leading a multistate inquiry into whether a Chinese-owned financial company called Webull Financial LLC may have exposed clients’ personal information to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The inquiry is being made after previous complaints were brought against Chinese-owned social media company TikTok for allegedly violating data privacy laws and deceiving app users into believing their information is protected. TikTok data is allegedly subject to Chinese law and may be intercepted by the CCP.
On March 13th, 2024, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act. This Act would ban TikTok from operating in the U.S. unless it separates from its Chinese owner, ByteDance. The Act is now working its way through the Senate.
The company, Webull Financial LLC, is a U.S.-registered broker-dealer allowing customers to trade U.S. stocks, options, and certain cryptocurrencies. Webull is owned by the Chinese company Hunan Fumi Information Technology Co., and it seems to conduct substantial operations for its U.S. business using personnel and resources located directly in the People’s Republic of China.
In a letter to Webull’s CEO, Attorney General Rokita and the other attorneys general request answers from the company on 11 questions to shed more light on its data protection practices on behalf of customers.
