December 11, 2015
Dear SEC
I am a concerned and confused investor. I have been told by my retail broker that I can not send my orders to IEX because it is not a stock exchange with a "protected quote". Yet, my retail broker routes my orders to Citadel, which I also understand is not a stock exchange, and therefore I assume Citadel also does not have a "protected quote."
I am concerned why Citadel would claim that IEX is unfair when IEX seems to allow all investors, including the high frequency traders, an to opportunity to trade without receiving a latency advantage from the IEX. I am confused why Citadel would insist that the SEC deny the IEX from becoming an Exchange if it would provide IEX with a "protected quote". The arguments all seem circular to me.
Please approve the IEX exchange to operate as a protected quote and please allow me to use the IEX router, because I do not want my orders to be subject to latency arbitrage.
Thank you,
Giovanni