GOP lawmakers question regulators about China’s access to US financial data via trading platforms

05/11/2023 / By Belle Carter

Two Republican lawmakers have questioned U.S. regulators whether they are able to ensure the security of Americans’ financial data, which is reportedly exposed to Beijing by means of popular trading platforms.

Tiffany Meier of NTD TV‘s “China in Focus” expounded on this probe by Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville and Indiana Rep. Jim Banks. Both lawmakers sent a letter on May 3 to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) were also furnished copies of the letter.

The letter from Tuberville and Banks asked the SEC and FINRA to ensure that Webull Financial, LLC and Moomoo, Inc., two Chinese companies that operate trading platforms, are complying with American laws and regulations when it comes to protecting consumers’ data.

“Webull and Moomoo collect highly sensitive personal information from millions of their U.S. customers, including personally identifiable information such as Social Security numbers, mailing addresses, and financial account data,” the two members of Congress pointed out.

Moreover, the letter also noted that Webull employs eight active FINRA-registered representatives that are mandated to comply with requirements from the two regulators. However, the eight representatives are based in mainland China – raising concerns over the two agencies’ ability to ensure compliance with regulations.

Tuberville and Banks gave the two agencies a deadline of May 31 to respond to their questions.

China spying on Americans through their smartphones

According to the two GOP lawmakers, both Webull and Moomoo are owned by Chinese companies with close ties to telecommunication giants Xiaomi and Tencent. The two latter firms have allegedly helped the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) “in its efforts to surveil and suppress its citizens.”

Moreover, they stressed that allowing Chinese-owned broker-dealers with representatives in China to bipartisan congressional efforts to obtain access to audit documents of U.S.-listed Chinese companies, something it said Chinese law has prevented.

“FBI Director Chris Wray has stated that ‘China’s laws allow its government to compel any Chinese company to provide any information it requests – including American citizens’ data,'” the letter noted. On the flip side, “Beijing’s increasingly strict privacy laws [have barred] many Chinese companies from sharing data with Western regulators.”

“The biggest threat facing our country today is communist China,” said Tuberville. “China doesn’t need a spy balloon to steal our information. They’ve got spies in the smartphones of millions of Americans, harvesting valuable information every second. The U.S. must protect the personal data of our citizens from falling into the hands of our greatest adversary.” (Related: Intel officials: China’s spy balloon gathered sensitive military info before being shot down.)

In a separate statement, the Indiana congressman called China “our greatest adversary.” He added: “The only way to protect Americans’ financial data from the CCP is to make sure Chinese firms with U.S. customers play by the rules. The Biden administration is falling short. Holding our greatest adversary to a looser standard is bad for business, bad for our country, and puts Americans’ investments at risk.”

Visit CommunistChina.news for more stories about how the CCP is spying on the U.S. and stealing Americans’ personal data.

Watch the full episode of “China in Focus” with Tiffany Meier below.

This video is from the Pool Pharmacy channel on Brighteon.com.