February 19, 2020
The original purpose of the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission was to protect investors, enforce laws and insure a sense of fairness in the markets. It was a worthy goal and one that the SEC has accomplished well. However, this proposed rule does the opposite of what the SEC is mandated to do. Instead of protecting investors, this proposed rule would limit investors ability to hedge their portfolios or take calculated risks. Regular investors could have their abilities to hedge their portfolio stripped away while Wall Street insiders are still able to utilize these valuable instruments. Even the thought process behind the rule is strange. If the SEC followed through with this logic of protecting investors from loss, then most investors should be barred from trading in the first place as many make bad decisions and lose money without knowing what they are doing. Investors should be protected by making sure investment providers do not deceive people about what their investment products can or cant do, not protected from making mistakes. Mistakes are a freedom we all should be allowed to make.
For me personally, as a 22-year-old investor, I can see it very likely that these rules will make it so that I am not able to make investment decisions that benefit me. Will my ability to access these types of investments be limited purely because of a brokers ad hoc decision based on my perceived inexperience? Since I am not a member of any large financial organization will I be denied access to these investments? Being possibly limited on what I can or cant invest in because I am not a Wall Street insider is the antithesis of helping investors and democratizing investing. This rule could turn even more investments into something that only privileged Wall-Streeters have access to. This is the opposite of promoting fairness and protecting investment freedom that the SEC was meant to do. Instead, it seems that this rule is aimed to limit independent investors and protect unearned Wall Street privilege. The SEC cannot allow this rule to go forward.