The day trader at the centre of the short squeeze on GameStop stock urged a House committee to investigate “potentially manipulative shorting practices” on Wall Street, ahead of a hearing in which he will appear alongside the hedge fund manager who lost billions on the other side of the bet.
Keith Gill defended his investment in the video games retailer and demanded clearer answers on why GameStop share purchases were restricted by online brokerages at the height of the trading frenzy, according to prepared testimony published by the financial services committee of the House of Representatives. He also sought answers on why GameStop came to be so heavily shorted by hedge funds.
The remarks lay the groundwork for a high-stakes hearing, as policymakers attempt to make sense of an upsurge of retail investor trading and respond to the outrage generated by the trading curbs last month.