WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The US securities regulator on Friday suspended trading in the securities of 15 companies over “dubious trading and social media activity,” the latest in a series of temporary trading stops amid volatile trading in so-called “meme stocks” . “
The Securities and Exchange Commission has acted because none of the companies have filed information with the regulator for more than a year, he said in a statement. This is the third and largest wave of regulator suspensions in response to social media activity.
Retail interest in certain stocks, notably GameStop Corp, has soared in a social media frenzy, leading to volatile trading.
The SEC will continue to review market and trading data to identify other securities in order to “exploit potential attempts to exploit investors during the recent market volatility,” the agency said on Friday.
For a full list of the suspensions announced on Friday, go here: here.
Reporting by Tim Ahmann and Chris Prentice; Written by Mohammad Zargham; Editing by Richard Chang