SEC Suspends Trading in Fifteen Companies' Securities
The SEC suspended trading in the securities of 15 companies as part of its effort to respond to recent market volatility.
According to the Order of Suspension of Trading, the SEC suspended trading because of the companies' operating statuses, the absence of publicly available information by the issuers and the possibility that social media accounts are being used to artificially influence the companies' share prices. None of the companies had filed any information with the SEC or the OTC Markets Group, where they were quoted, for over a year.
Commentary
These suspensions appear to be part of the continued fallout from GameStop (previous coverage here). As it did in response to the volatility caused by COVID-19 (previous coverage here), the SEC is making aggressive use of its trading suspension authority to try and protect retail investors from potential market manipulation driven by social media.