NYSE president Stacey Cunningham says the stock market is not a casino - and exchange officials have not been asked to testify at the upcoming GameStop hearing

• The NYSE's president told Axios stock markets are not a casino, and they are highly regulated.
• NYSE officials have not been called to testify at GameStop's House hearing, Stacey Cunningham said.
• Rules on transparency around short positions held by hedge funds should be reviewed, she said.

NYSE president Stacey Cunningham told Axios in a recent interview that investing in the stock market does not resemble gambling.

"The markets are not a casino," she told Axios' Dan Primack. "They are highly regulated and they're highly overseen. We are running a market that provides opportunities for investors to come in, invest in the companies they believe in, they believe that are gonna grow, and then share in that wealth creation."

Senator Elizabeth Warren last month slammed hedge funds and investors who criticized traders driving up GameStop for treating the stock market like a casino.

Cunningham disagreed with the sentiment, and said that what makes America so great is that "dreamers and entrepreneurs" with an idea can grow their business by getting others to invest via the stock market and share in the success.

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The CEOs of Robinhood, Reddit, hedge fund Citadel, and investment-management firm Melvin Capital are expected to testify as part of a House hearing on the GameStop saga this Thursday, along with YouTube streamer Roaring Kitty.

Cunningham said NYSE officials have not been summoned to testify at the hearing, even though GameStop, AMC and other so-called "meme-stocks" trade on the exchange. "This is not really so much a New York Stock Exchange issue," she said.

However, she believes regulators should review transparency requirements around short positions held by hedge funds.

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