Aug. 17, 2026
Dear Ms. Countryman, I hope this reaches your attention. I am very concerned about the protection of individual investors. Each investor should be considered equally and fairly under our country's investing rules. A cornerstone of this is protection of fair value determined openly amongst participants. I am an individual investor, and I am writing to oppose the proposed rescission of Rule 611, the Order Protection Rule (File No. S7-2026-20). The Commission's own release admits that without this rule, wholesalers "may begin to trade through displayed round-lot quotes," "resulting in worse prices," and that this "would transfer value from the retail investors to the wholesalers, who would earn higher profits." I do not want my trades to receive worse prices so that Wall Street firms can earn more. I respectfully urge the Commission to withdraw this proposal. If it will not, then at a minimum it must not leave individual investors with no protection at all: before removing Rule 611, it should adopt a clear, objective, and enforceable best execution standard for individual investors. Short of that, it should at least preserve trade-through protection through a narrowly tailored alternative rather than eliminating it entirely. Thank you for considering my comment. Sincerely, -- Christian N. Setzer, PhD