June 24, 2023
It would be absolute insanity to allow derivatives holders voting rights. How can someone who DOES NOT OWN THE SECURITY possibly deserve voting rights? This would be utterly irresponsible to allow this. And it would open up the voting process to unheard-of levels of manipulation. An institution or hedgefund can buy millions of $0.01 calls and wreak total havoc on the voting process.
Retail voters would be utterly crushed by hedgefunds and financial institutions. RETAIL WOULD NOT HAVE A VOICE Retail investors, like me, and millions of others, would be irreparably harmed by this proposal. Not only us, but smaller pension plans and retirement plans would also be harmed. Again, their voices WOULD NOT BE HEARD
One of your core tenets is to protect investors. That means ALL investors, not just the already wealthy Wall Street \"landed gentry\". This proposal DOES NOT PROTECT INVESTORS IT ONLY SERVES THE UBER-WEALTHY WALL STREET ELITE
I urge you to not only reconsider this proposal, but to also publicly rebuke it. This proposal would only create an even more unfair market, where-in the only people who would have a voice would be the institutions who already have an over-sized influence on the voting process.
Allowing ONLY investors who verifiably own shares, either direct-registered or in street name via brokerage, voting rights is not only the intelligent thing to do, but also the morally-right thing to do. Allowing derivatives holders to vote would only destroy the US financial markets, and would ultimately make the facade of the US free market ideal globally clear that it in fact does not exist. Corruption in the markets would only increase, and bad actors would only be emboldened to not only continue their crimes, but would in fact INCREASE their commission of crimes and exploitive behaviors.
The fines for these crimes and behaviors is also pitifully weak. They are NOT a deterrent, but merely the \"cost of doing business\". This would only be made more clear if this proposal becomes rule.
The rest of the world is already laughing at the US for our incredibly lax punishments for law-breaking and exploitation. Please, I beg of you, do not make the situation worse by allowing this proposal to pass.
Thank you for your time.
-Cody, retail investor since 2020.