Mar. 31, 2023
To whom it may concern, As an investor, I believe in a free and fair market. For this reason, I support the Order Competition Rule, as all orders should have the right to first go to public auction to give everyone a fair opportunity to fill - not just routed to a lone player for complete control over price action. Just as the UK has effectively banned this practice of "payment for order flow," so too should the US to address conflict-of-interest concerns and ensure brokers receive optimal execution quality. Further, "dark pools," or alternative trading platforms, should be made to provide quotes and provide their market data to the public for greater transparency and a more fair market setting. Seeing stocks with the majority of their daily trades routed through off-market activity is deeply concerning and shakes my confidence in the market as a whole. I believe these issues and other oblique practices should be carefully reviewed and broken up by the SEC to ensure a free and fair market. I fully support this rule, and hope to see its passing and its enforcement through higher fines that truly discourage bad actors from making the US market their playground to kill competition for their own benefit. Thank you for your time, and I look forward to seeing these and other progressive rules passed in the future. Best, Trevor Smith