Tag: GameStop Short Squeeze (Page 1 of 3)

David Inggs is Global Head of Operations at Citadel and is responsible for all products across asset servicing, billing, cash management, clearing, and has a board seat at the DTCC.

The conflict of interest has raised big concerns amongst the retail investor community online as Citadel has been a leading and one of the biggest short sellers in the stock market.

On January 28th, 2021, The DTCC waived $9.7 billion of collateral deposit, limiting institutional losses and limiting retail profits during the ‘meme stock’ frenzy.

The organization allowed several naked shares to flood the market prior to the massive jump in share prices only to help financial institutions in the end.

Citadel and Melvin Capital who shut down last year, lost billions during the event.

Melvin was crippled throughout 2022 from its severe losses in GameStop the year prior.

Had the DTCC not stepped in, the hedge fund would have closed that same year.

“Anyone shorting AMC or GameStop is out of their mind. Wallstreetbets is too powerful, and trying to bet against them right now is just giving them more ammo”, said Jim Cramer.

Since the halt of ‘meme stocks’, the retail community has been uncovering a variety of conflicts of interest too big to ignore.

Who is David Inggs?

David Inggs is Global Head of Operations at Citadel and is responsible for all products across asset servicing, billing, cash management, clearing, Collateral Management, Reconciliation & Control and Settlements and is on the Board of Directors at the DTCC.

Prior to joining Citadel, David served as Chief Operations Officer of E*TRADE where he led operations globally across Trade Execution, Global Clearing, Middle Office and Shared Services, among other functions.

David spent most of his career at Goldman Sachs, where he was a Managing Director and held numerous leadership positions over the course of a decade, including Global Head of Clearing Operations and Head of Credit Default Swaps and Equity Derivative Operations.

David also worked at Morgan Stanley, where he served as an Executive Director and Head of Global Bank Loans, in addition to work in credit derivatives and collateral management.

The Global Head of Operations at Citadel has worked for every major criminal financial institution that has been too big to face serious consequences from fraud or market manipulation in the past.

Retail investors say this is market injustice and regulators are part of the problem.

Who is the DTCC?

The DTCC (Depositary Trust and Clearing Corporation) is an American post-trade financial services company providing clearing and settlement services to the financial markets.

The DTCC processes trillions of dollars of securities on a daily basis.

As the centralized clearinghouse for various exchanges and equity platforms, the DTCC settles transactions between buyers and sellers of securities.

The information is recorded by its subsidiary, the NSCC.

After the NSCC has processed and recorded a trade, they provide a report to the brokers and financial professionals involved.

This report includes their net securities positions after the trade and the money that is due to be settled between the two parties.

Clearing corporations such as the DTCC may receive cash from a buyer and securities or futures contracts from a seller.

The clearing corporation then manages the exchange and collects a fee for this service.

The size of the fee is dependent on the size of the transaction, the level of service required, and the type of security being traded. 

Investors who make several transactions in a day can generate significant fees.

This means every naked share that has been created on the ‘short side’ has been recorded and bypassed by the DTCC/NSCC, all for a fee.

Related: Robinhood and Citadel Colluded Night Prior to Trading Restrictions

GameStopped

A press released was published advising of the circumstances that occurred during the time ‘meme stocks’ were halted.

The DTCC waived $9.7 billion of collateral deposit requirement on January 28th, 2021, limiting institutional losses and limiting retail profits.

While AMC Entertainment stock was able to surge months after the January event, GameStop shareholders were strongly affected by the halts.

Retail investors say they feel cheated from regulators who failed to let the short squeeze play out in their favor.

Conflicts of interest such as David Inggs’ involvement with Citadel and the DTCC could be seen as a detriment to market integrity.

In an interview with ‘We The Investors’, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler said one proposal they’re looking at this year involves tackling conflicts of interest in the financial markets.

Citadel processes more than 40% of retail’s orders through PFOF (payment for order flow), and with a bias towards short selling, gives the hedge fund an incredible advantage over the common investor.

Should the involvement between both Citadel and the DTCC be considered a crime?

Or is this just a coincidence?

Leave your thoughts below.

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