Webull

Is Webull safe?

For a US investor holding stocks and ETFs, mostly yes. Webull Financial LLC is a SEC-registered broker and FINRA member, client securities are held at Apex Clearing, and accounts are covered by SIPC plus an excess policy from Lloyd's of London underwriters. Its parent, Webull Corporation, has been listed on Nasdaq since April 2025 and publishes audited accounts. We score it 74/100.

Three things hold it back. The company only turned an annual profit in 2025. Its compliance record has a steady run of fines from FINRA, the SEC and Massachusetts, the largest over how it approved customers for options. And its ties to China draw scrutiny from US lawmakers, most recently in a House Select Committee report published on 8 October 2026.

How is my money protected at Webull?

US broker-dealers must keep client cash and securities apart from their own. Webull uses Apex Clearing to settle trades and hold client securities. Since October 2025, when it moved to an omnibus clearing model, client cash is carried directly by Webull rather than held at Apex. Webull says this cash sits at large US banks, separate from its own funds.

If assets were missing after a failure, SIPC would replace up to $500,000 per customer, of which $250,000 can be cash. Webull's excess policy from Lloyd's underwriters adds cover with no per-account limit on securities and up to $1.9 million in cash, but with a $100 million aggregate cap for all clients. Against $28.5 billion of customer assets, that cap means the policy is a backstop for a small shortfall, not cover for everyone at once. Accounts still cleared on the older fully disclosed basis fall under Apex's own excess policy instead ($150 million aggregate).

Futures, crypto and anything else outside the securities account are not covered.

Which Webull company holds my account?

Where you live	Entity	Regulator	Compensation
US	Webull Financial LLC	SEC, FINRA	SIPC plus Lloyd's excess
UK	Webull Securities (UK) Ltd as agent; account with Webull Securities (Australia) Pty Ltd	FCA (FRN 961286); ASIC	Not explained on the UK site

The UK set-up is unusual. The FCA-authorised UK company says it follows the FCA's client-money rules, but your account is opened with an Australian sister company. Australia has no general compensation scheme for investment firms like the FSCSDeposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary. Webull UK's website does not say whether FSCS cover applies, so we base the score mainly on the US broker. Webull also runs brokers in Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Australia, Thailand and other markets under local licences.

How strong is the company?

Webull Corporation grew revenue from $390 million in 2024 to $571 million in 2025 and moved from a $23.2 million loss to a $24.4 million profit. Revenue reached $198.8 million in the second quarter of 2026 alone, and total equity was about $1 billion at mid-2026. It listed on Nasdaq through a merger with SK Growth Opportunities, a blank-cheque company, in April 2025.

The ownership is concentrated. Founder and chief executive Anquan Wang, a Chinese citizen, owns 16.4% of the shares but controls 79.2% of the votes, so Webull is a "controlled company" under Nasdaq rules. Apex Clearing's owner, PEAK6, is a minority shareholder.

What about Webull's links to China?

Webull is headquartered in St. Petersburg, Florida, but 863 employees, 62% of its staff, work for a research and development subsidiary in mainland China. Webull says US customer data stays on US servers and cannot be reached by staff outside the US without US oversight, and that no client assets have ever been held in China.

Lawmakers have pressed the point. Attorneys general from 14 states raised data concerns in April 2024, and the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party wrote to Webull in December 2024. The Committee's report came out on 8 October 2026. Webull's response, filed with the SEC the next day, says the report relies on an incomplete record, cites no case of customer data being misused, and that the company was not given a chance to answer. No regulator has brought a data-protection case against Webull. We note the issue under account security and financial strength but do not treat allegations as findings.

What fines has Webull paid?

• 2023, FINRA, $3 million: its automated system approved more than 9,000 accounts for options trading that did not meet Webull's own criteria, and it failed to report customer complaints, including some alleging theft.
• 2023, Massachusetts, $500,000: too few compliance resources and weak handling of customer complaints.
• 2024, SEC, $125,000: suspicious activity reports filed from 2018 to 2022 lacked required details.
• 2025, FINRA, $1.6 million: influencer posts that were not fair and balanced, failure to deliver its client relationship summary, and order controls set too loose.
• 2026, FINRA, $115,000: about 33,000 options trades mismarked.

On 28 January 2021 Webull halted purchases of GameStop, AMC and Koss for about an hour and a half after Apex did, which led to class actions.

How to keep your Webull account safe

1. Review your trusted devices in Account & Security and remove old phones and computers. A trusted device skips the SMS code.
2. Set a separate trading password, so a stolen login alone cannot place trades.
3. Protect your phone number with your carrier against SIM swaps, because the login code goes by SMS.
4. UK users should read the account agreement to see which company holds their assets before transferring large sums.

How we scored it

Regulation (86) and investor protection (78) are Webull's strongest factors in the US, with SIPC and an excess policy, held back by the $100 million aggregate cap and the unclear UK set-up. Financial strength (70) reflects a listed company that only just became profitable and is founder-controlled. Conduct (62) reflects five fines since 2023. Account security scores 70. For a comparable US app broker, see Robinhood.