(Reuters) – The YouTube streamer known as Roaring Kitty, who helped increase interest in GameStop Corp, will testify before a House panel on Thursday alongside hedge fund managers.
The House’s Financial Services Committee is examining how an apparent flood of retail trading has pushed GameStop and other stocks to extreme highs, squeezing hedge funds like Melvin Capital, which had bet against it.
The list of witnesses was announced on Friday by Congressman Maxine Waters and includes Keith Gill, who also serves for Roaring Kitty, Robinhood Chief Executive Vlad Tenev, Citadel Chief Executive Kenneth Griffin, Chief Executive Officer Melvin, Gabriel Plotkin, and Reddit Chief Executive Steve Huffman.
The virtual audience, entitled “Jogo Parado? Who wins and loses when short sellers, social media and retail investors collide “, will take place on February 18 at 12:00 (Brasília time), according to the press release and will be broadcast live here. Waters, a Democrat, he is Chairman of the Chamber’s Financial Services Commission.
“We are working with the House’s Financial Services Committee and we plan to testify,” said Huffman of Reddit in an emailed statement. Representatives for Melvin, Citadel and Robinhood did not respond to requests for comment. Gill could not be reached for comment.
Robinhood, Reddit, Melvin and Citadel have been at the center of the GameStop saga, which saw retailers promoting GameStop on the Reddit WallStreetBets forum. Robinhood has emerged as a popular place to trade stocks, but has been criticized for temporarily restricting trading in hot stocks.
The increase in GameStop resulted in massive losses for Melvin, after the hedge fund bet that the retailer’s stock price would plummet. Citadel’s hedge funds, along with founder Griffin and partners in the company, invested $ 2 billion in Melvin.
Democrats and Republicans are united in their outrage over Robinhood’s decision to suspend the so-called “meme stock” deal on January 28. Tenev said the company had to impose the restrictions after the wild stock trade triggered a $ 3 billion margin call in Robinhood’s clearinghouse, affecting the company’s balance sheet.
Massachusetts securities regulators also issued a subpoena seeking Gill’s testimony.
Reporting by Michelle Price and Megan Davies, additional reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss and John McCrank; Sonya Hepinstall and Daniel Wallis edition