U.S. securities regulator suspends trading in three more ‘meme stocks’
Chris Prentice, 19 February 2021
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday suspended trading in more securities that have seen jumps in both prices and trading volumes since late January amid social media interest.
The SEC temporarily suspended trading of Marathon Group Corp, Affinity Beverage Group Inc, and Sylios Corp beginning on Friday and ending on March 4, the SEC said in statements published on its website.
The suspensions are the latest effort by the SEC to address soaring retail investor interest driven by conversation on social media platforms, most notably seen in a surge and subsequent plunge in share prices of GameStop Corp. Last week, the regulator suspended trading in a defunct stock.
Volatile trading in so-called “meme stocks,” assets which draw sudden interest from retail investors amid discussion on social media platforms, has left both hedge funds and retail investors nursing steep losses in recent weeks. The market tumult has drawn the scrutiny of federal and state regulators as well as U.S. lawmakers, who on Thursday grilled executives from online broker Robinhood, market maker Citadel Securities and hedge funds.
