Mar. 31, 2023
Dear Ms. Countryman, I am writing in support of File No. S7-31-22; Release No. 34-96495, also known as the Order Competition Rule. I believe that orders should go to an auction where every market participant has equal opportunity to fill them. Payment for Order Flow has been restricted in the United Kingdom because of concern about conflicts of interest, and this should be the case in the United States markets as well. There is no good enough reason to allow participants to profit using Payment for Order Flow when they use the privilege to control the price of securities to the detriment of others. There is no need for middlemen that are simply allowed to get their cut of a transaction that would otherwise occur. 15 U.S.C. 78k-1 (“section 11A”) states that “It is in the public interest and appropriate for the protection of investors and the maintenance of fair and orderly markets to assure… fair competition among brokers and dealers, among exchange markets, and between exchange markets and markets other than exchange markets.” Most salient is the final section, which states the importance of providing the opportunity “for investors’ orders to be executed without the participation of a dealer.” The proposed rule is an important step in complying with this mandate. I support forcing dark pools to provide quotes and trades to consolidated market data, bringing more transparency to dark markets. I will use this opportunity to assert that enforcement of SEC rules needs to be applied more proactively, with higher fines to deter illegal activity, or loss of license. The current fines often amount to no more than the cost of doing business, incentivizing firms to continue breaking the law. Again, I support this rule and urge the SEC to implement and enforce it as soon as possible to stop unfair manipulation of the markets. Orders must go to public auction before being passed on to restricted competition trading centers, allowing everyone to have equal opportunity to fill orders. Thank you.