January 29, 2020
This proposed regulation is not in the spirit of an open market. It has essentially make the SEC the arbiter of personal investment decisions. To my knowledge, the SEC does not prevent or even regulate individual investors from using leverage in investing. Nor does the SEC prevent individual investors from executing trades that are made in extremely poor judgment such as opening of short positions that could bring about heavy losses, buying shares in a failing company, or purchasing options that may expire worthless.
Leveraged ETFs allow investors like me access to leveraged returns without taking on personal debt. It is my choice to do so, and I understand the risks of doing so. In my opinion, leveraged ETFs are a good way to introduce a little risk into their portfolios, with a high chance of returns above the market average. The government is a beneficiary of this as it is enabled to collect more capital gains taxes which for leveraged ETFs are typically short term, and thus a higher percentage. The SEC does not need to regulate these investments beyond having investment firms providing a standard warning about these investments. Highly suggest you strike this proposed regulation.