Mar. 27, 2023
March 27, 2023 The proposed exemptions included in S7-01-23 are what make me vote a hard NO on this proposal. Everyone commenting here all heard CEO of Virtu say \"wholesalers are providing infinite liquidity at the NBBO\". He goes on to say that \"If someone wants a 1000 shares and 200 are available that they fill that order at NBBO\". The problem is these exemptions in this rule don't draw a line in the sand on how many shares can be sold without locates in the name of market making which you are well aware has been egregiously abused for years now. They have stolen trillions of dollars from investors since 2004 because of the loop hole exemptions that you have had since then. These loop holes coupled with PFOF and routing buys to ATS'S and sending sell orders to a lit market has enabled the banks and hedge funds to hijack and control the ENTIRE market. No wonder some entities have a third of assets that they hold as \"Sold not yet purchased\". They control all price movement so why be concerned about the chance of these stocks rising and getting out of control. How come rules weren't in place to prevent this ridiculous over leveraging? If those stocks sold not yet purchased go up just a third then multiple entities are under water and bankrupt. Their recklessness and the SEC's lack of oversight and enforcement is what created the Meme stocks. Where were you SEC when GameStop was being shorted to death and was reported 140% short? That is just what was reported short. Where were you concerning the blatant corruption with Chesapeake Energy which no media outlet dared cover? Over 4 billion in investors funds just wiped out and the same management was still allowed to run the same company under the same ticker symbol. Management unwound oil hedges that were in the 60's range and reset them up in the high 30's when oil crashed and the CEO did this after assuring investors we could weather the storm for a year because of the hedges. Oil then goes back up and whoever got those new hedges is saving a ton of money but where is your investigation into this SEC? You might feel this info on CHK could be left out but it's being used as an example of how you don't even follow your own credo and failed retail miserably just as the judge did overseeing the case. Citadel Securities long ago was against infinite liquidity until they got to become a market maker,hedge fund and an ats owner. Talk about conflicts of interest that once again the Sec allowed for Citadel. The exemptions are contrary to the SEC's mission to: 1. Protect investors 2. Maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets 3.Facilitate capital formation. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act added section 27B to the Securities Act of 1933 with intent and purpose. The exceptions subvert that intent and purpose. The SEC has a duty to conclude with reason that exceptions to 27B are unnecessary and counter-productive to their mission.These institutions were given the opportunity to make billions of easy money from the previous exemptions and PFOF that the SEC allowed, but it wasn't enough and they wanted more at the expense of fiscal irresponsibility as the recent banking collapses are proving. More are coming as well because of the lack of oversight and regulations. Pretty much institutions have been selling stock and never actually delivering it as is evidenced in their sold not yet purchased assets and the PEOPLE are now aware of it. I fear we are nearing a tipping point of revolution depending on how much worse the banking crisis gets and how much longer the SEC favors these repeatedly fined cheaters. Save fac e and impose rules that actually favor retail and provide true price discovery. Respectfully, Duke Watson