Mar. 31, 2023
To whom it may concern I am writing to you as a concerned investor around File No. S7-31-22. I fully support the proposed rule. For too long retail orders have been hidden from light markets and it's about time this ends. The data that retail traders have access to is too limited so we really have no idea where our orders end up, if we are getting best pricing etc. Time after time we have seen that competition is good however the US markets have now got to a state that they don't work as designed and a select few can move any stock price they want by using alternative trading systems. Currently this is far from a free and fair market or the envy of the world, it's not and has not been for many years due to a select number of firms. A number of these firms have also been charged more than a few times with fraud or stock manipulations (not only in the US but other countries). Are these really the people / firms that we want to be controlling our finance systems? The parties involved have very clear conflicts of interest. Citadel is a large source of funding for many broker-dealers and is, for example, the NYSE's biggest customer. Wholesalers exercise extreme influence on other market participants and I am concerned that influence will infect the ability of some participants to objectively review these rules. I would gladly pay commission to avoid being routed through a wholesaler, especially one with a long record of flouting the law like Citadel Securities. Please let's start to make a difference and level the playing ground for everyone playing the game. Thank you Tripp talbot