Two of Wall Avenue’s main hedge fund managers are set to testify together with the chief executives of Reddit and Robinhood at subsequent week’s US congressional listening to available on the market upheaval surrounding buying and selling in GameStop shares.
The Home of Representatives monetary companies committee introduced the high-level roster of witnesses late on Friday. It contains Citadel’s Ken Griffin and Melvin Capital’s Gabe Plotkin, in addition to Reddit’s Steve Huffman and Robinhood’s Vlad Tenev.
The committee added that Keith Gill, the dealer often known as “Roaring Kitty” who emerged as one of many key gamers within the GameStop rally that’s attracting political scrutiny, would additionally seem.
The listening to, which can happen on Thursday in Washington, might be chaired by Maxine Waters, the veteran California Democrat and longtime critic of the monetary companies business. The listening to’s title might be “Sport Stopped? Who Wins and Loses When Quick Sellers, Social Media, and Retail Traders Collide”.
Congressional testimony by senior monetary companies executives is pretty widespread nevertheless it has been rarer for high hedge funds and personal fairness executives to be grilled on Capitol Hill.
Political consideration of equities buying and selling has elevated sharply in latest weeks. This got here after a rally in GameStop shares which was driven by retail investors who have been energetic on the social media platform Reddit. They challenged hedge funds that have been betting on the decline within the online game retailer’s shares.
When Robinhood, the net buying and selling platform, halted trading in GameStop as a result of volatility, it fuelled a backlash amongst retail traders that was joined by populist politicians from each the fitting and the left who mentioned it provided proof that the monetary system was biased in favour of its largest gamers.
GameStop shares, whose worth peaked at $347.51 on January 27, have since tumbled and closed at $52.40 on Friday. Although buying and selling in GameStop shares has stabilised, Washington’s legislators and regulators have moved to confirm whether or not the episode was pushed by market manipulation or different systemic issues within the monetary system.
Final week Janet Yellen, the US Treasury secretary, convened a gathering of high regulators, together with the Securities and Change Fee, and the Commodity Futures Buying and selling Fee, saying the market’s “core infrastructure was resilient” however the SEC would launch a “well timed examine” of the occasions.
As well as, the SEC and CFTC might be “reviewing whether or not buying and selling practices are in step with investor safety and truthful and environment friendly markets”.
