BOSTON, MA – Today, Congressman Stephen F. Lynch (D-MA) called on the Committee on Financial Services to examine current lapses in the federal oversight of equity markets in light of recent allegations surrounding the May 2010 Flash Crash. Last month, the Department of Justice and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that they were bringing criminal and civil charges against Navinder Singh Sarao, a U.K. trader who allegedly helped cause the May 6, 2010 Flash Crash, by manipulating the global financial market through the practice of spoofing. Congressman Lynch was joined by three members of the Committee on Financial Services in his request for a hearing to conduct critical oversight over the threat of fraud to the world’s financial system.

“Almost five years after the CFTC blamed the Flash Crash on a single trade from a brokerage firm in Kansas City, Missouri, we are learning that an individual was able to repeatedly manipulate the market from the comfort of his own home in the United Kingdom. We must get all the facts in the cases against Navinder Sarao and determine how regulators can effectively protect the dynamic financial marketplace from damaging fraud. Reforming our federal oversight of equity markets is an important step towards increasing the confidence of average investors in the security of the financial system,” said Congressman Lynch.\

The full text of the letter is available here.