The following Letter Type B, or variations thereof, was submitted by individuals or entities.

Letter Type B:

Dear Ms. Countryman, 

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). 

For twenty years, Rule 611 has guaranteed one simple thing: my orders cannot be executed at a worse price than the best price publicly displayed on another market. It is the only rule that protects that best price on an order-by-order basis, and the proposal would remove it with nothing put in its place. 

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. 

The Commission estimates the rule costs each trading center roughly $31,000 to comply with, while conceding the harm to investors could reach hundreds of millions of dollars a year. That is not a trade that serves investors. 

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a clear, objective, and enforceable best execution standard for individual investors - a genuine improvement over the withdrawn Regulation Best Execution, not another unenforceable standard or guidance. 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, 
Concerned Investor