The Robinhood online brokerage app, which popularized free stock trading and caught the attention of regulators, confidentially filed a proposed IPO, media reported on Tuesday.
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According to information from the Axios site and Bloomberg News citing people familiar with the matter, Robinhood would benefit from a regulation allowing the filing of first documents with the gendarme of the Stock Exchange without immediate disclosure of its finances.
Robinhood, who wants to
"democratize finance for all,"
has been at the center of a controversy involving how social media forums have been used to drive up the prices of speculative stocks like GameStop.
"Robinhood followed the rules"
Its co-founder and managing director Vlad Tenev was among the executives called to testify recently at a congressional hearing on the frenzy of the stock market and the risks of manipulation of the stocks.
Vlad Tenev had denied that the brokerage app encouraged stock price speculation.
"All I can say is Robinhood followed the rules,"
he told lawmakers.
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Details of the transaction were not immediately known, but Bloomberg claimed the company would be listed on the Nasdaq market.
Robinhood's market valuation could reach $ 40 billion, according to the press.