Keith Gill, a Massachusetts investor who found fame and wealth promoting the shares of GameStop Inc., has caught the attention of the state’s top financial regulator, the New York Times reported Thursday.
William Galvin, the secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, became interested after it was revealed that Gill is a registered stockbroker who worked as director of financial-welfare education at an insurance company until Jan. 28, according to the report.
Galvin, the state’s top financial regulator, sent a letter to MassMutual, Gill’s former employer, asking for details on how the company controls employees ’undisclosed business activities and use of social media, according to the report.
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Gill, who carries the username “Roaring Kitty” on YouTube and posts under the nickname “DeepF – ingValue” on the popular Reddit forum WallStreetBets, reportedly earned tens of millions of dollars in GameStop GME shares,
and options.
The news comes a day after California Rep. Maxine Waters, the Democratic chair of the House Financial Services Committee, told Cheddar TV that Gill would testify on Capitol Hill later this month.
As a registered stockbroker, Gill runs a higher risk of exposure to civil penalties than a typical retail trader because the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the securities industry’s self-regulatory body, requires brokers to refrain from doing “false” [or] misleading statements, exaggerated statements and material omissions ”on social media, according to the Times.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will host a meeting with key federal regulators on Thursday to discuss recent market volatility around shares that have been heavily promoted on social media, including GameStop GME,
and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. AMC,
Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday that the Securities and Exchange Commission is actively investigating posts on social media along with trading data to see if the posts were part of a concerted effort to manipulate the price of these so-called memes. .