January 14, 2005
Dear Chairman Donaldson:
I am writing to express my concerns about the proposed Regulation NMS,which is designed to update and strengthen our national secuities markets. A core part of the proposal contains a provision,Consolidated Limit Order Book that would radically change the structure of the U.S.capital markets and effectively turn our internationally competitive, investor-driven markets into a government utility.
The U.S. equity markets are the strongest in the world.In a splintered,electronic-only marketplace where exchanges must chase displayed orders from market-to-maret,large orders of stock would be difficult to manage. Instead,they could be traded in private markets or overseas,to the detrimant of investors.
I urge you and your fellow Commissioners to express your support for the Reg NMS proposal without the CLOB provision. Thank you for your consideration.
Respectfully,
Robert Brooks,Member NYSE