Last year Robinhood’s checking account product was stopped due to regulatory and insurance issues. Now the stock-trading unicorn is adding a senior regulatory executive to its board.
Dan Gallagher, the former commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has joined the scaleup’s board. He is currently a partner and deputy chair at the securities department and law firm WilmerHale.
“At Robinhood, we are focused on our responsibility to our customers as we work to make our financial system more inclusive,” said Baiju Bhatt, co-founder and co-CEO of Robinhood. “To support this, we continue to add leaders that have deep regulatory and financial backgrounds and complement our customer-driven approach to building products. Dan has an incredible understanding of our industry and we are fortunate to have his perspectives as we continue to scale Robinhood.”
Gallagher added, “Robinhood has an impressive focus on its customers and making the financial markets more accessible. I am honoured to serve on the board and look forward to contributing to the company’s work as it continues to expand the financial services it offers.”
Robinhood launched its checking and savings feature in December 2018. It came with a Mastercard debit card and, to sweeten the deal, with no attached ATM, membership, overdrafts, transaction or any other fees. It also offered a tempting 3% interest rate, which could fluctuate depending on the market, the Verge reported at the time.
However, Robinhood rolled back the feature after it faced criticism and questions about how it would be insured and how the money would be protected.
Copyright © 2018 RegTech Analyst
