February 7, 2022
Transparency is part of the foundation, one of the pillars that fair and free markets are built upon. One of the \"4 bed posts\" if you will. Our markets can never be too transparent. And without that transparency, how can retail investors compete on the same level as institutional ones? Doesn't sound to fair to me.
While I'm happy that rules such as these are suggested and being put to paper, talk is cheap and it takes money to buy whisky. I, personally, have a complete lack of confidence in rule enforcement over institutional players by our government agencies. A quote I will use that sums it up my opinion: \"Punishments are not reflective of the damage they cause, both monetarily, and to the reputation of the market as a whole.\"
Market participants that violate rules hundreds of times shouldn't be handed a fine that equates to less than the cost of a parking ticket. Mainly because to even have a fine levied against them, their actions were so egregious that they couldn't be ignored in a system that routinely behaves like \"nothing to see here\". And the result of these fines is \"nothing to see here\" as the guilty participant ALWAYS settles without needing to confirm or deny their behaviors.
When the punishment for a crime is less than the profits of the crime, it ceases to be a punishment and becomes the \"cost of doing business\".
Let me humor you with one example: if someone robs a bank. They take $10,000 and are arrested in the coming days/weeks. The prosecutor says \"plead no contest, you'll get no jail time or probation, you pay a fine of $500 and can keep the rest\". That prosecutorial body is more of an accomplice than a regulatory authority of justice. Additionally, many more people would go rob banks because it would be without serious risk to their freedom/well-being/way of life and pretty much guaranteed profitable to do so. It can't be called a punishment if it's actually a reward and every 4 year old knows that. So why doesn't the SEC have the same understanding that a 4-year-old does? Are 4-year-olds smarter than the people at the SEC? No, they are not. But they may very well be far more honest and thoughtful than the SEC as a whole.
The SEC should not be surprised that fraud and deception are on the rise on Wall Street. They should not be surprised that they are viewed as an accomplice to fraud by tax-paying Americans and investors in our markets from around the world rather than the regulator tasked to prevent it. Your lack of serious enforcement and penalties have sculpted the markets to become what they are today.
I propose the SEC more quickly identifies bad actors, increases the frequency and accuracy of reporting by ALL market participants, and that fraud is openly addressed. These market participants (parties) should not be given a pass with a small fine but instead are held fully accountable. Their fines for their crime exceed the profits from it, creating actual consequences to act as a deterrent to this behavior in the future. Additionally, more scrutiny over and modified rules for parties that have committed fraud. The SEC could easily be a fully self-funded regulatory agency by just scratching the surface. This provides value to not just all market participants acting in good faith, but also value to the American taxpayers.
So before you attempt a land-grab over cryptocurrency markets, why don't you prove you can regulate and enforce rules within the markets you're already tasked with? The markets you've failed to protect for entire generations.
I appreciate your time and I will be judging you by your actions and not your words.