Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen
Janet Louise YellenOn The Money: Biden calls Dems, insists on large COVID account | Biden’s SEC choice overturned when GameStop drama unfolds Bezos steps down as Senate Democrats CEO Amazon takes the first step toward the big COVID-19 bill A government official’s advice to incoming government : listen more to KISS will meet with financial regulatory groups this week to address recent stakes in GameStop and other commodities after armchair investors on Reddit sparked surprising fluctuations in the market.
The meeting will examine the findings of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on investments and include the Federal Reserve, the New York Fed and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
“Secretary Yellen believes market integrity is important and called for a discussion of the recent volatility in financial markets and whether recent activities are in line with investor protection and fair and efficient markets,” Treasury spokeswoman Alexandra LaManna told The Hill Wednesday said.
The news of the meeting comes as lawmakers sound the alarm about the fluctuations. Bipartisan members of Congress have expressed concern that Robinhood Financial, through which many of the Reddit investors traded, has curtailed trading in GameStop, AMC Entertainment and other stocks after the price of their shares soared.
Robinhood said it was restricting trading due to a $ 3 billion claim to support the actions, although critics had touted the decision as an attempt to protect Wall Street investors who had shorted the shares.
The sharp rise in equities appears to reverse. GameStop saw its share price rise to a high of $ 483, although it closed at 60 percent on Tuesday.
Proponents of the boom see it as a win-win for Wall Street investors, but market observers have warned that such fluctuations could affect stock market confidence.
“Extreme stock exchange rates could expose investors to rapid and severe losses and undermine market confidence,” the SEC said last week.
Reuters first reported on the meeting with Yellen.