Subject: S7-32-10: Webform Comments from D L
From: D.L.
Affiliation: Underpaid "Essential" Worker

Aug. 21, 2023

I support the proposal for greater transparency on swaps.
Honestly, I feel its still too lenient and should be stricter and more
transparent.

As a household investor working hard in this country to support my
family I find transparency, not just in regards to swaps but for an
actual fair and free market instead of what we currently have, to be
of the utmost importance. 

Personally I also feel the SEC should disregard any arguments or
excuses from financial institutions claiming that increases in
transparency would be too costly or would take too long. In our modern
day and age there is absolutely no reason for simple data reporting to
be anything costly or time consuming. Logistics companies like
warehouses process absurd amounts of data regarding the products being
shipped and employees doing the work. They manage to do this in real
time and under strict time constraints, but its essentially a
non-issue because the process is largely automated and functioning
under sets of rules and practices that are designed and regulated to
efficient. 

If logistics companies staffed almost exclusively by people that our
country and its people look down on as being uneducated or "less
capable" are able to execute such a feat 24 hours a day 7 days a
week then it is beyond ridiculous that any massively wealthy and
economically important financial institute with access to top of the
line technology and the best and brightest employees that money can
buy could ever have so many problems with simple tracking and
reporting of numerical data. It is literally just "weaponized
inefficiency" on their part. By making, or at least pretending,
that it would be too costly, time consuming, or complex to report the
data and then lobbying to get exceptions and exemptions they are just
creating a system that effectively allows them to justify hiding
important information. It is completely ridiculous.

If swaps reporting is made properly transparent, with frequent
reporting, and *crucially* actually ENFORCED then it would go a long
way to helping to ensure the integrity of our markets. So long as
transparency continues to be limited it will just further allow for
financial crimes by the already rich against or economy and the
regular populace that gives their lives to keep this whole sick
machine running.

Just to re-iterate, while I support this proposal the most important
thing is actually enforcing it. Not just with a slap on the wrist
punishments that are just a, likely tax write-off-able, cost of doing
business. There needs to be MEANINGFUL punishments and actual
consequences. Ban institutions from trading, jail time for the higher
ups, bans from employees participating in markets, fines that are
substantially larger than any illicit profits gained and that
don't just cycle into the pockets of government and regulators
but actually aid those who were negatively affected by these actions.

Thank you for your time and I hope you take these comments into
consideration.

As a side note, while its not directly related to this proposal I
would like to take the time to say that Failure-to-Deliver (FTDs) in
our market is absolutely crucial to address. Any amount of rules and
regulations won't really amount to anything and our markets will
just continue to be a made up game of IOUs and fraud so long as
financial institutions are allow to get away with taking hard earned
consumers money without actually delivering the product that was
bought. This would NEVER be allowed in a looked down upon job like a
restaurant or warehouse, but its apparently just business as usual in
the financial world. But in reality its just stealing. Taking money
for a sale without delivering the goods is stealing. Its just able to
be gotten away with because its a different term being used and the
government always gets its little cut of the crime in the end.
Disgusting. FTDs MUST be dealt with and punished! Please do anything
in your power to look into and address this issue. So long as it
continues our market isn't free, fair, or even a market at all.
Its just a shell game and a scam with a fancy coat of paint and good
snake oil salesman talking a good game.