: Yellen says regulators will discuss whether ‘further action’ is needed in recent meme stock frenzy

United States

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Thursday her meeting with top federal regulators about the frenzy of trading in so-called “meme stocks” would focus on whether “recent events warrant further action.”

“We need to understand deeply what happened before we go to action, but certainly we’re looking carefully at these events,” Yellen said, in an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

Yellen will meet with heads of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Reserve and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission later Thursday.

“We really need to make sure that our financial markets are functioning properly, efficiently and that investors are protected. And we’re going to discuss whether the recent events warrant further action,” she said.

In her first television interview, Yellen pushed for passage of President Joe Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion covid-relief measure.

She said the package addresses a “wide-range of needs,” citing estimates it could reduce child poverty by 50%.