The CEOs of companies including Robinhood, Citadel, Melvin Capital, Reddit, and more that were involved in the GameStop mania are all now prepared to present their testimony before US Congress in the case regarding the same.
Maxine Waters, the U.S. Representative chairing the said hearing said, “The House Committee on Financial Services will hold the hearing on February 18, and will focus on short selling, online trading platforms, ‘gamification’ and their systemic impact on our capital markets and retail investors.”
Robinhood has met with severe criticism because it had temporarily suspended trading of GameStop shares which according to experts was done to prevent its intraday-trading customers from benefitting from the craziness.
In a statement which announced the commencement of the hearing, Waters said, “private funds engaging in predatory short selling to the detriment of other investors must be stopped. Private funds engaging in vulture strategies that hurt workers must be stopped.”
“Addressing that predatory and manipulative conduct is the responsibility of lawmakers and securities regulators who are charged with protecting investors and ensuring that our capital markets are fair, orderly, and efficient,” she added pointing to Citadel’s actions during the mania.
Citadel, a hedge fund, has received widespread backlash and has been accused of having orchestrated this whole conspiracy because it somehow managed to divert funds just before the stock price took a hike and was able to save about $50 million.
