Senate Banking Committee to hold hearing amid GameStop (GME) frenzy

Photographer: Andrew Harrer / Bloomberg

The Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing on “the current state of the stock market,” new chairwoman Senator Sherrod Brown said on Thursday as a growing number of lawmakers criticized measures to curb Reddit-fueled transactions in companies such as GameStop Corp.

“The people of Wall Street only care about the rules when they’re hurt. American workers have known for years that the Wall Street system is broken – they have paid the price, ”Brown said in a statement. “It’s time for the SEC and Congress to make the economy work for everyone, not just Wall Street.”

Although Brown did not announce a date for the hearing, a rare bipartisan collection of lawmakers have joined criticism platforms such as Robinhood Markets Inc. for restricting the trading of certain stocks, claiming this unfairly disadvantages ordinary people who should be allowed to trade as freely as hedge funds.

Progressives, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Elizabeth Warren, as well as Senate banking Republican Pat Toomey, have said the measures deserve closer regulatory scrutiny. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the trades “interesting” and said relevant agencies should look into the matter.

Toomey, who is set to become the top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, said he was unsettled by Robinhood and other platforms blocking transactions.

“I find it very worrying that a platform suddenly freezes investors,” Toomey said. “People should be free to make the investment decisions they choose.”