Trick or trend: GameStop increases the odds that Congress will tighten regulation on financial sector, and especially FinTech companies

January 31, 2021 | Daily JAM, Friday Trick or Trend | 5 comments

Even before the GameStop (GME)/Robinhood explosion of last week, Democrats in Congress and the White House were targeting the financial sector for investigations, for tighter enforcement of existing regulation that had been relaxed during the Trump administration, and for new regulations that would address the non-bank sector.

The events of last week when Robinhood and other brokerage services halted trading in shares of GameStop, AMC (AMC) and other heavily shorted stocks that had turned into stock market rockets have just added more energy to those efforts. There’s almost certainly enough energy to go around in the committees now controlled by Democrats to push increased regulation of traditional banks and new non-bank financial institutions. But I expect that the trading halt at Robinhood, etc. will put added attention on FinTech companies.
What might Congress look at?