Currently, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the Committee on Money Providers, and Congressman Al Inexperienced (D-TX), Chair of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, launched a Vast majority employees report entitled, “Match Stopped: How the Meme Stock Industry Event Uncovered Troubling Business Techniques, Inadequate Chance Management, and the Want for Regulatory and Legislative Reform.”
GameStop Company (GameStop) and other “meme stocks” grew to become extraordinarily well-liked on social media leading into January 2021. Institutional buyers wager in opposition to these stocks, predicting they would slide in value, when retail traders took the other facet of that guess, purchasing the shares en masse. This investing frenzy drove historic market volatility, which achieved a peak on January 28, 2021.
In response, Chairwoman Waters immediately addressed the make a difference and named for a deep dive into the situation and practices that led to the sector volatility. Below the management of Chairwoman Waters and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chair Environmentally friendly, the Committee convened a few whole Committee hearings “to get to the info,” innovative a number of pieces of laws, and launched a extensive and entire investigation.

“Last year’s meme stock sector frenzy raised crucial concerns about the fairness of our economic markets, the gamification of investing, the treatment of retail traders, and so significantly far more. In response to those people gatherings, my Committee held a number of hearings—including the initial of them with CEOs from Robinhood, Citadel Securities, and numerous others—to get to the base of the purpose these businesses performed in the volatility and disruption in the stock industry in January 2021,” Chairwoman Waters explained.
“At past October’s total Committee oversight hearing with SEC Chair Gary Gensler, I mentioned that my Committee would also look into the activities that led to the market volatility and suggest guidelines we should really have in put to far better shield traders when this situation occurs again. This report information the conclusions and recommendations that arrived from our complete and sturdy response to the meme inventory marketplace function, which include the investigation we’ve now concluded.
“My Committee’s investigation into the issue showed we require much better market regulation to handle the troubling organization procedures that had been uncovered all through our investigation. Payment for get circulation and gamification make it rewarding for a new generation of trading applications to thrust retail traders to make as lots of trades as attainable, earning the markets a lot more risky than ever. The report makes apparent that significant legislative and regulatory reforms are needed to modernize the regulatory framework for guarding the sector and ensuring that the functions on January 28, 2021, do not take place once more. Below my leadership, the Financial Services Committee will keep on to lead these efforts.”

About the course of 16 months, Committee staff members conducted more than 50 interviews with representatives from 19 institutions and combed by additional than 95,000 internet pages of paperwork as element of its investigation.

“The GameStop report is the end result of a lengthy, comprehensive investigation, like several hearings, by the U.S. Dwelling Committee on Economic Providers. The report attained various critical conclusions, which include the obtaining of present deficiencies with the current marketplace regulatory composition. My hope is that the report’s results will direct to improvements in the functioning and regulation of the U.S. securities marketplaces and consequence in a a lot more truthful and safe process for all traders,” explained Representative Environmentally friendly.
Vital Results:
The Committee Staff determined 4 critical results from its investigation, like that:

- 
- Robinhood exhibited troubling company tactics, inadequate risk administration, and a lifestyle that prioritized quick progress previously mentioned balance through the Meme Stock Industry Event.

 - Broker-sellers struggling with the most extreme operational and liquidity issue executed the most expansive buying and selling limitations all through the Meme Inventory Current market Function.

 - Most of the corporations the Committee spoke to do not have express options to adjust their policies for how they will satisfy their collateral prerequisites throughout severe industry volatility or undertake buying and selling restrictions when current market volatility may perhaps warrant.

 - The Depository Belief & Clearing Company (DTCC) waived $9.7 billion of collateral deposit demands on January 28, 2021. The DTCC lacks comprehensive, written policies and techniques for waiver or modification of a “disincentive” demand it calculates for brokers that are considered to be undercapitalized and has regularly waived such rates all through intervals of acute volatility in the two yrs right before the Meme Stock Current market Function.




Committee Personnel Plan Suggestions:


Committee Employees suggest policy modifications so that regulators can:

- 
- Much better understand the influx of retail traders

 - Improve supervision of retail dealing with “superbrokers” and,

 - Improve money and liquidity needs and oversight




Read through the comprehensive report Listed here.


Qualifications:
On January 28, 2021, Chairwoman Waters introduced a statement promptly responding to the market instability triggered by the meme stock investing frenzy and asserting that the Committee would examine the perform and procedures of short marketing, on line investing platforms, gamification, and their systemic effects on our cash markets and retail traders.
On February 12, 2021, two months immediately after the meme inventory marketplace celebration, Chairwoman Waters announced that the Committee would convene the initially of a series of a few complete Committee hearings looking into the meme inventory party with the vital players and Wall Street firms included, like the CEOs of Robinhood Marketplaces, Inc. (Robinhood), Citadel LLC (Citadel), Melvin Money Management LP (Melvin Money), and Reddit.
On February 18, 2021, Chairwoman Waters led the Committee’s very first comprehensive hearing to study the marketplace volatility involving GameStop and other shares entitled, “Match Stopped: Who Wins and Loses When Brief Sellers, Social Media, and Retail Buyers Collide,” and shipped an opening assertion. Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev, Citadel CEO Kenneth C. Griffin, Melvin Funds CEO Gabriel Plotkin, Reddit Co-Founder and CEO Steven Huffman, and Keith Gill testified at the hearing.
On March 17, 2021, Chairwoman Waters led the second of three whole Committee hearings examining the Wall Avenue practices and developments in our money markets—including in social media and tech—leading up to the market place volatility involving GameStop and other meme stocks entitled, “Recreation Stopped: Who Wins and Loses When Quick Sellers, Social Media, and Retail Investors Collide, Portion II,” and shipped an opening assertion.
On Could 6, 2021, Chairwoman Waters led the 3rd of 3 comprehensive Committee hearings entitled, “Sport Stopped: Who Wins and Loses When Short Sellers, Social Media, and Retail Traders Collide, Part III,” and delivered an opening assertion, to further scrutinize the Wall Road techniques and market developments that led to the volatility, as well as reforms that would make our markets fairer and a lot more transparent.
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