January 22, 2016
I am submitting this comment to join the large contigency of investors who support the IEX exchange application as filed.
In addition to approving the IEX exchange, I, as well as many other investors strongly urge the SEC to consider the following additional steps to address conflict of interest and preferential treatment issues that currently exist:
1. Eliminate Payment for Order Flow and Internalization. This is essentially a license to front run and manipulate retail order flow.
2. Introduce a "no hire" period of at least 5 years on all employees hired by regulatory agencies responsible for overseeing our markets. Right now, SEC and it's sub sections are seen merely as stepping stones to lucrative jobs at the very institutions they are tasked with regulating. This is a clear and disturbing conflict of interest that virtually guarantees a free pass for violations by certain market participants.
3. Establish an accurate, publicly accessible and transparent audit trail for all market transactions.
4. Require millisecond timestamps for all stock transactions. If ANYONE is going to be allowed to execute at the microsecond (or even nanosecond) levels, all participants have a right to know EXACTLY when their order was filled.
Thank you.