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E-Trade is having internal discussions about whether to ban Keith Gill – the meme stock trader who just disclosed a large position in GameStop – from the trading platform over concerns about possible market manipulation, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.
The brokerage firm, owned by Morgan Stanleyhas not yet made a decision, the Journal said, citing people familiar with deliberations within the company.
GameStop shares shot up early Monday after Gill, who goes by the pseudonym “DeepF——Value” on Reddit, posted a screenshot of what could be his portfolio, the one contains a significant amount of GameStop common stock and call options. The meme stock leader holds 5 million GameStop shares and a position of 120,000 call options with a $20 strike price expiring on June 21 and purchased for about $5.68 each, as the screenshot shows .
E-Trade declined to comment to CNBC, noting: “We do not speak publicly about our customers’ individual activities.”
Morgan Stanley’s global financial crimes department and outside counsel began discussing whether Gill’s account should be deleted while the company monitored his account activity, the Journal said.
The brokerage firm noted that Gill had purchased call options in May before posting on the social media platform
The 2021 meme stock craze led to a series of congressional hearings, including Gill’s testimony, on brokerage practices and the gamification of retail stock trading. Gill also faced several class action lawsuits, including one in which he was accused of pretending to be an inexperienced trader despite being a licensed professional.
Gill worked as a marketing and financial education associate at MassMutual in 2019 and 2020.
– Click here to read the WSJ story.
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2024-06-03 21:47:10
www.cnbc.com
