Citadel Securities Defends Itself From ‘Meme Stock’ Accusations

Market maker Citadel Securities has been accused of restricting or limiting trading on GameStop and other so-called “meme stocks” when their prices spiked in January and trading was suspended by Robinhood and other brokers.

Citadel Securities said in a series of tweets:

Citadel Securities was the only major market maker during this time that provided continuous liquidity every minute of every trading day.

— Citadel Securities (@citsecurities) September 27, 2021

On January 27th, Citadel Securities executed an extraordinary 7.4 billion shares on behalf of retail investors.

— Citadel Securities (@citsecurities) September 27, 2021

When asked whether Citadel Securities requested that Robinhood restrict trading, Ken Griffin truthfully told Congress “Let me be perfectly clear. Absolutely not.” https://t.co/juU0uFazBZ

— Citadel Securities (@citsecurities) September 27, 2021

“It must frustrate the conspiracy theorists to no end that Vlad and I have never texted, called or met each other. But I must say, kudos to Vlad and his team at Robinhood for their remarkable success story.” – Citadel Securities Founder Ken Griffin https://t.co/Z8MetpbudY

— Citadel Securities (@citsecurities) September 28, 2021

On January 27th, numerous retail brokerage firms imposed restrictions on the trading of certain “meme stocks” due to capital constraints, liquidity concerns and other commercial reasons.

— Citadel Securities (@citsecurities) September 28, 2021

Citadel Securities never requested, intimated, agreed or otherwise sought to limit or to restrict the trading of such securities.

On January 27th, we executed an astonishing 7.4 billion shares on behalf of retail investors.

— Citadel Securities (@citsecurities) September 28, 2021

We’re proud of the important role we have long played in making US financial markets fair, transparent, resilient, and the envy of the world.

— Citadel Securities (@citsecurities) September 28, 2021

Of course, the teams at Citadel Securities and our counterparties are in constant communication to meet the needs of the retail investor community.

— Citadel Securities (@citsecurities) September 28, 2021

Against the backdrop of a global pandemic, amid an unprecedented surge in retail trading engagement, our respective teams made sure that operational demands were addressed and that retail investors had access to Citadel Securities’ superior execution capabilities.

— Citadel Securities (@citsecurities) September 28, 2021