Subject: Formal Comment on File No. 4-887 – Systemic Risk and Automated Trading
From: Alexander Payne
Affiliation:

Apr. 16, 2026

The speed at which indices like the SOX are currently moving suggests that human oversight has been entirely replaced by High-Frequency Trading (HFT) algorithms. When these algorithms "lock" onto a price trend, they create feedback loops that can lead to crashes more severe than 2008. I propose that the SEC mandate standardized "Kill Switches" for all liquidity-providing algorithms. These switches should be triggered by a "Volatility Deviation," preventing algorithms from "trading with each other" to inflate prices to unsustainable highs.