By Nate Raymond
BOSTON (Reuters) -A MassMutual investment subsidiary has agreed to pay $4.75 million to resolve allegations by Massachusetts securities regulators that it failed to supervise its agents, including the social media persona “Roaring Kitty,” whose online posts helped spark January’s trading frenzy in GameStop Corp shares.
Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin on Thursday said MML Investors Services failed to detect the activities of Keith Gill, who touted GameStop stock in his spare time while he was working at the company as a registered broker.
Galvin, the state’s top securities regulator, alleged that MassMutual inadequately supervised other agents as well and failed to review the social media usage or catch excessive trading in their personal accounts.
The company agreed to pay a $4 million fine to resolve those allegations and overhaul its social media policies. It also agreed to pay a separate $750,000 fine for failing to register 478 broker-dealer agents, Galvin said.
Galvin said a separate inquiry into Gill’s registration in Massachusetts is still pending.
Neither a spokesperson for MassMutual or a lawyer for Gill immediately responded to requests for comment.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in BostonEditing by Sonya Hepinstall)
