Oct. 30, 2022
October 30, 2022 I have already submitted a comment with respect to this regulation mistakenly for S7-32-10. However, I am more than happy to continue with my reasons for supporting the passage of S7-18-21 here. In short -- pun intended -- securities lending is a fundamentally deceptive practice which 99.9% of so-called retail investors have no idea is occurring. The same amount or more have no idea that shares held in brokerages are not owned by them, but rather, that they are the \"beneficial owner,\" whereas the DTCC and Cede and Co. are the true owners. Financial advisors do tell people that these retirement accounts, 401k's, and investment portfolios are safe, according to their \"risk profile\" -- I would know: for over 2 years, I was a transcriptionist almost solely for people in the finance and insurance industry. However, the reality, as you know, Wall Street especially knows -- and now, you know we know -- all stock and bond portfolios held in brokerages are at the mercy of the Big Boys, who frontrun trades with HFT, payment for order flow, and of course, as relevant here, the lending of securities to facilitate \"liquidity\" -- a natural side effect of which is the lowering of the securities' value by means of its dilution -- most often to short the stock -- again, with the intended effect of both lowering its value, as when market makers cellar box companies into bankruptcy, and profiting from the reduction in value. The very least the SEC can do is add a little transparency to this farce. At least then, some people will have at least a little hope to stay abreast of how exactly they are being manipulated and perhaps course correct from the recommendations of \"their\" financial advisor -- paid, naturally, primarily by the same oligarchs who are executing these trades, and \"helping\" write the laws and regulations governing them. We are likely too far down the rabbit hole to stop the coming depression. But, the actions you take now could be the difference between another happening in 10 or 15 years and a system which is at least able to move forward sustainably. Personally, I do not believe that a simple regulation is enough to make that happen -- but if you hope to maintain the overarching system of capitalism that exists to facilitate this piracy, this is the least you can do to hold onto some hope of that. In either case, it is a necessary action, lest our already laughable \"democracy\" degrade into true plutocracy.