Trading & Options · Profile from Trading and Options Research Companion
Futu Holdings
The Hong Kong online broker that Leaf Hua Li, a former Tencent employee, built from a Shenzhen software company (operations from Dec 2007) into a licensed Hong Kong securities dealer (Oct 2012), listed on Nasdaq on 8 Mar 2019 (7.5m ADSs at US$12.00, ~US$90m; Tencent bought 666,667 of them — prospectus), and then took overseas as moomoo, an app launched in the United States in 2018 and later in Singapore, Australia, Japan, Malaysia and Canada. Its 2025 revenue was HK$22.8bn (US$2.9bn) and net income HK$11.3bn (US$1.45bn), with 3.37m funded accounts and HK$1,233bn (US$158bn) of client assets at year end (20-F, Apr 2026). For a trading book Futu is the Asian app broker that reached US retail — the closest non-US analogue to Robinhood, with a social feed, cheap US-stock and options trading and margin lending — and a case of regulatory risk across borders: China's securities regulator declared its service to mainland investors unlicensed (30 Dec 2022), Futu pulled its app from mainland app stores (19 May 2023), and in May 2026 the CSRC proposed a ~RMB1.85bn (~US$271m) penalty and a two-year exit from the mainland business, while FINRA fined its US broker over influencer marketing and options-position reporting.
At a glance
- Founded
- Shenzhen Futu Network Technology began operations Dec 2007 (software); Futu Securities International (Hong Kong) incorporated by Leaf Hua Li Apr 2012, SFC Type 1 licence Oct 2012 (F-1/424B4 prospectus, Mar 2019); Futu says it "launched our online brokerage business in 2012" (20-F)
- Headquarters
- Hong Kong (Admiralty); large engineering base in Shenzhen
- Type / ownership
- Listed holding company (Cayman Islands); ADSs on Nasdaq Global Market since 8 Mar 2019, first as "FHL", now FUTU (20-F); Leaf Hua Li ~36.0% of shares / ~63.0% of votes; Tencent-affiliated entities ~20.2% / ~30.8% (20-F, Apr 2026)
- Platforms
- Futubull (Futu NiuNiu) for Hong Kong and (legacy) mainland users; moomoo internationally; NiuNiu/Moo community feed
- Licensed entities (examples)
- Futu Securities International (Hong Kong) (SFC); Moomoo Financial Inc. (formerly Futu Inc., SEC/FINRA broker-dealer, Jersey City) and Futu Clearing Inc. (US); Moomoo Financial Singapore (MAS); Moomoo Securities Australia (ASIC); Moomoo Securities Japan; Moomoo Securities Malaysia; Moomoo Financial Canada (20-F)
- Scale (dated, company)
- Funded accounts 1,710,106 (end-2023) → 2,411,324 (end-2024) → 3,365,414 (end-2025); client assets HK$485.6bn → HK$743.3bn → HK$1,233.0bn (20-F); Q2 2026: 3,842,667 funded accounts, client assets HK$1.40tn, record trading volume HK$6.42tn, of which US stocks HK$5.02tn (release, 20 Aug 2026)
- Revenue (dated, audited where annual)
- HK$811.3m (2018) → HK$1,061.6m (2019) → HK$3,310.8m (2020) → HK$7,115.3m (2021) → HK$7,614.0m (2022) → HK$10.0bn (2023) → HK$13.6bn (2024) → HK$22.8bn / US$2.9bn (2025); net income HK$11.3bn (2025) (prospectus; 20-Fs). Q2 2026 revenue HK$7,200.2m (US$918.2m), net income HK$3,641.9m (unaudited)
- Regulators
- SFC and HKMA (Hong Kong); SEC and FINRA (US); MAS (Singapore); ASIC (Australia); FSA/SESC (Japan); Securities Commission (Malaysia); CIRO (Canada) (verify names); the CSRC asserts jurisdiction over service to mainland investors
- Currency note
- HKD is pegged at ~HK$7.8 per US$; Futu's filings convert at their stated rates (e.g. HK$7.8420 = US$1 in the Q2 2026 release). RMB to USD as given in press reports
- Signature moves (incl. failures and enforcement)
- Hong Kong online broker launch (2012); moomoo in the US (2018); Nasdaq IPO with Tencent (2019); the 2020–21 boom; the People's Daily and PBOC warnings (Oct 2021); CSRC rectification and the mainland app removal (2022–23); international expansion (2021–26); FINRA cases over influencers and options reporting (2024–25); the CSRC penalty and mainland exit (2026)
9 strategic moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
2012
Hong Kong Online Broker Launch
Founding / new market (licensed online brokerage)
2018
Moomoo US Launch
New market / technology
2019
Nasdaq IPO with Tencent
IPO / capital raise
2020
Retail Boom and Paying Client Surge
Growth through a market regime / marketing and margin expansion
2021
International Expansion of Moomoo
New markets
2021
Peoples Daily and PBOC Warnings
Regulatory shock (failure) and the company's response
2022
CSRC Rectification and Mainland App Removal
Regulatory action (failure) and rectification
2024
FINRA Influencer and Options Reporting Cases
Regulatory and enforcement action (failure) — two FINRA settlements (Letters of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent)
2026
CSRC Penalty and Mainland Exit
Regulatory and enforcement action (failure) / restructuring (wind-down of a client base)