Mar. 24, 2023
To whom it may concern, I am writing this email in support of the proposed rule change, allowing for free and fairer competition in the financial markets that I participate in. Payment for Order Flow (PFOF) is an outdated and malicious mechanism that does not serve investors, and is often taken advantage of to harm investors and the companies that we invest into. PFOF has been outlawed in Australia, the UK and Canada to name a few and it has no place in a transparent, modern financial market. Furthermore, the existence and utilization of Alternative Trading Systems is alarming to myself as an investor. I believe there should be full access to trades and the data produced by trading. Currently there are millions if not billions of trades every day that I am unable to see and that do not effect the price on the lit exchange. This, combined with PFOF, only serves to erode my trust in the US financial markets, as I have no reason to believe that the offered best price, is in fact accurate. Please listen to the investors who are being harmed by strategies and mechanisms that are being exploited by bad actors in the system. I thank you for your time, Chris Morrow