"Market leader" manipulating the market? Regulatory authorities are in a dilemma: there is no basis for prosecuting him

The leader Keith Gill is causing a stir again.

On Thursday, he announced that he will return to YouTube live on June 7, three years after his last live stream. This move once again triggered a mid-day surge in GameStop (GME) stock price.

GME soared 50% during Thursday's trading session, ultimately closing up over 47% at $46.55, with significantly increased trading volume throughout the day.

Every move by the leader easily triggers dramatic fluctuations in meme stocks. But does his behavior of using personal influence to drive GameStop (GME) stock price up continuously and profit from it constitute market manipulation?

Unfortunately, it does not.

According to lawyers, based on the current known trading facts, the SEC currently does not have grounds to prosecute the leader for market manipulation.

To prosecute market manipulation, the SEC would need evidence to prove that the leader deceived market investors to some extent.

However, the information the leader has been posting on social media and the disclosure of his GME holdings do not show clear signs of deception.

As of Thursday's close, the leader's holdings of GME stocks and options contracts have reached a staggering $557 million in value, with unrealized gains of $380 million.

Daniel Hawke, a partner at the law firm A&P Kaye Scholer, pointed out: "What Gill is doing is exploiting loopholes in regulations, using his fame and influence to attract people to buy stocks. Unless there is deception involved, existing rules do not allow the SEC to prosecute this behavior."

Furthermore, the leader's actions do not seem to involve insider trading, as he is not an executive at GameStop.

Nevertheless, for some, Gill's actions clearly amount to market manipulation.

Matt Stoller, Director of Research at the American Economic Liberties Project, said: "This is clearly market manipulation. I can't believe we are still discussing this issue. If market manipulation laws do not address this situation, what is their purpose?"

Some market participants argue that Gill's behavior is not fundamentally different from Wall Street fund managers who discuss their holdings on television.

Steve Sosnick, Chief Strategist at Interactive Brokers, likened Gill's actions to a savvy investor quietly accumulating shares of a company and then publicly disclosing this information in hopes of driving up the stock price.

While the SEC may not be able to formally prosecute the leader, measures are being taken by relevant parties to limit his influenceFor example, the securities regulatory agency in Massachusetts, USA has begun investigating Gill's actions, and the investigation is currently ongoing.

Meanwhile, E*Trade, a trading platform under Morgan Stanley, is also considering whether to remove the ringleader from its client list to mitigate negative impact