For Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C. 10th District), ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee and proponent of more open financial markets, the GameStop trading frenzy presents an opportunity to further democratize investing.
"This is a true power-of-the-people moment, where you see Reddit users… that communicated with each other about what large sophisticated hedge funds were doing to a particular stock, and so they took action," McHenry told Cheddar.
The committee will hold hearings on the incident in the next two to three weeks, according to McHenry. The goal, he said, is to better understand if there are any legal issues to address and if the David-and-Goliath media narratives pass the muster of closer scrutiny.
"We need to understand if any laws were broken, if any regulations were broken here, and what exactly happened with this larger moment of Reddit users outsmarting and outwitting hedge funds," he said.
The representative also stressed that the hearing would not focus on a single company, such as Robinhood, which has gotten heavy criticism from fellow lawmakers on both sides of the aisle for limiting trading activity of Reddit-targeted stocks in the middle of the buying spree.
Robinhood CEO Vladimir Tenev recently said in a conversation with Elon Musk that the restrictions were meant to help the company conform to capital requirements. McHenry said regulations concerning capital requirements for broker-dealers could also be on the docket.
"We have to make sure that the regulations are appropriate for broker-dealers to hold capital," he said. "We need to understand the clearing process."
Ultimately, he said it should be easier for newcomers, such as the wave of investors who piled into GameStop stocks, to take advantage of financial markets.
"What this moment shows me is that average, everyday investors can be quite sophisticated, and simply having a wealth standard is not a sufficient mechanism," he said. "We need to ensure that people can test into the accredited investor standard, so that these average, everyday investors can get those deeper, earlier access to sophisticated products."
Orangetheory Fitness is redefining the future of workouts with smarter tech, strength-based programming, and community-driven studios built for what’s next.
Spain's government has fined Airbnb 64 million euros or $75 million for advertising unlicensed tourist rentals. The consumer rights ministry announced the fine on Monday. The ministry stated that many listings lacked proper license numbers or included incorrect information. The move is part of Spain's ongoing efforts to regulate short-term rental companies amid a housing affordability crisis especially in popular urban areas. The ministry ordered Airbnb in May to remove around 65,000 listings for similar violations. The government's consumer rights minister emphasized the impact on families struggling with housing. Airbnb said it plans to challenge the fine in court.
Roomba maker iRobot has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, but says that it doesn’t expect any disruptions to devices as the more than 30-year-old company is taken private under a restructuring process. iRobot said that it is being acquired by Picea through a court-supervised process. Picea is the company's primary contract manufacturer. The Bedford, Massachusetts-based anticipates completing the prepackaged chapter 11 process by February.
Serbia’s prosecutor for organized crime has charged a government minister and three others with abuse of position and falsifying of documents related to a luxury real estate project linked to U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. The charges came on Monday. The investigation centers on a controversy over a a bombed-out military complex in central Belgrade that was a protected cultural heritage zone but that is facing redevelopment as a luxury compound by a company linked to Kushner. The $500 million proposal to build a high-rise hotel, offices and shops at the site has met fierce opposition from experts at home and abroad. Selakovic and others allegedly illegally lifted the protection status for the site by falsifying documentation.
Wealthfront’s CFO Alan Iberman talks the $2.05B IPO and the major moment for robo banking as the company bets on AI, automation, and “self-driving money."
A rare magnum of Dom Pérignon Vintage 1961 champagne that was specially produced for the 1981 wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana has failed to sell during an auction. Danish auction house Bruun Rasmussen handled the bidding Thursday. The auction's house website lists the bottle as not sold. It was expected to fetch up to around $93,000. It is one of 12 bottles made to celebrate the royal wedding. Little was revealed about the seller. The auction house says the bids did not receive the desired minimum price.
