A securities class action filed October 8 in federal court in Tampa, Florida, accuses online broker Webull Corporation of misleading investors about the scale of its operations in mainland China, InvestmentNews reported. The complaint alleges the company described one reality in its public filings while the facts were different.
The case is titled Ward v. Webull Corporation et al., Case No. 8:26-cv-03052, according to InvestmentNews. It brings claims under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act and SEC Rule 10b-5. InvestmentNews said the defendants include Webull, which is incorporated in the Cayman Islands and trades on Nasdaq under the ticker BULL, along with its founder and chief executive and its chief financial officer.
According to InvestmentNews, the complaint points to Webull's 2024 annual report, a July 2025 registration statement and its 2025 annual report. In those documents the company told investors that its operations in mainland China were limited to research and development and technical support functions. The complaint alleges that description was misleading.
A law firm notice carried by FinancialContent, issued by SBS Law, says the plaintiffs allege the China operations covered software development and core engineering functions, and that the company's ownership, infrastructure, financing and compliance structure were tied to China despite its presentation as a U.S.-based business. A separate notice from Rosen Law Firm, as carried by Pluang, says the suit alleges Webull concealed the extent of its China-linked operations and data infrastructure and wrongly said business and customer data were primarily U.S.-based and insulated from Chinese access. These are allegations in a complaint, not findings.
Rosen Law Firm said it filed on behalf of investors who bought Webull securities between April 26, 2025 and October 6, 2026, according to the Pluang item. That notice listed December 7, 2026 as the deadline for investors to join the class action.
The suit follows a report from the House Select Committee on China. CNBC reported that the committee shared the report with it exclusively on October 7, 2026, and that it found Webull linked in structural ways with the Chinese government. InvestmentNews said the committee described a profound gap between the company's public statements and its actual operations. A committee press release said the investigation documented that the company is controlled by China-linked executives and that its China-based subsidiary receives subsidies and cash rewards from Chinese government authorities.
DailyCoin reported that the subsidiary, Hunan Weibu Information Technology, employed 863 people at the end of 2025, about 62% of the workforce. It also reported that founder and CEO Wang Anquan, a Chinese citizen, held a 16.4% equity stake and 79.2% of voting power as of March 31. CNBC reported Webull's stock fell about 18% in morning trading after the report; Pluang cited a 19% decline.
Webull disputed the report. CNBC reported the company said it contains significant inaccuracies and reaches unsupported conclusions. Tastytrade noted the committee finding is not an SEC or FINRA enforcement action and that no regulatory action has been announced.
Webull went public on Nasdaq in April 2025 and is headquartered in St. Petersburg, Florida, according to the research materials. DailyCoin reported the platform has 28.2 million registered users, 5.13 million funded accounts and $28.5 billion in customer assets.