Mar. 18, 2023
To whom it may concern, The Order Competition Rule, File No. S7-31-22, Release No.34-96495 would benefit retail investors and ensure fair competition while breaking the monopoly Citadel/Virtu has created. I believe some broker-dealers should lose their licenses instead of receiving fines that amount to nothing more than the cost of doing business. A cost that is often outweighed by the ill-gotten gains obtained through “honest mistakes”. These “market-makers” route over 60% of orders to the OTC market. This prevents retail orders from ever affecting the price. Not only that, but they also produce massive failure to delivers with these stocks. Monopolies are detrimental to the markets, and there is clear monopolistic behavior here. The Commission notes that 90% of marketable orders of individual investors in NMS stocks to a small group of six off-exchange dealers, and 66% is captured by just two firms. Those figures will be even higher for specific stocks. The state of American markets is clearly anti-competitive and that needs to change. I sincerely appreciate and support any efforts to reduce the speed of games that damage American markets' integrity, credibility, and reputation. Sincerely, Matt