Mar. 27, 2023
March 27, 2023 As an SEC employee, I will be directly impacted by this proposal. In addition, my spouse and children's investment options will also be directly impacted by this proposal. Already we have significantly less investment options then regular US citizens because of the SEC rules. We currently are required to get advance approval before buying or selling various investments. In addition, we are required annually to provide investment statements for each investment account that we have which show every transaction that occurred during the year. As noted in the proposal, the current reporting process has been successful. It is unclear why this proposal was necessary or warranted given that we already have limited/controlled investment options, reporting is already being provided by employees and the current reporting process has been successful. This proposal only works to further limit employee investment options and potentially put employee investment account information at risk. In particular, I am concerned with the Commissions proposal to authorize OEC to collect covered securities transactions and holdings data directly from financial institutions through a third-party automated electronic system to satisfy the requirements to report securities holdings and transaction information. In order to get this kind of access, it appears that the SEC would need employees to provide them with their investment account information, including information such as account numbers and/or log-in information. I have four issues with this: 1) The 1974 Privacy Acts purpose is to balance the governments need to maintain information about individuals with the rights of individuals to be protected against unwarranted invasions of their privacy stemming from federal agencies collection, maintenance, use, and disclosure of personal information about them. How is this section of the proposal consistent with the Privacy Act of 1974 which limits the collection of personal information to what is necessary? If the current SEC investment review processes are successful, why does the SEC need direct access to employee investment accounts? 2) It is unclear to me how SEC employee investment account information will be kept protected during this process. Investment account information is particularly sensitive because many of us will be relying on our investments in order to retire, purchase/renovate homes, plan for our childrens education, etc. In the past, sensitive information for government employees has been inadvertently leaked. How will the SEC insure that employee investment information will be kept safe? If a leak results in SEC employees having their investment accounts hacked and their funds stolen, will the SEC reimburse the employees for these losses? 3) My spouse has a 401K account through their employer. If my spouse's 401K account is unwilling or unable to provide data to OEC, would this prevent my spouse from having a 401K account with their employer? If so, this would have significant negative impacts on our ability to plan for our retirements. Note: There is an exceptional circumstance clause in the proposal, however, this process appears to be very limited and requires documentation of a hardship. 4) My spouse and I have investment accounts with various entities. Given recent bank failures, we feel uncomfortable consolidating all our accounts into one investment account. How will the SEC be able to obtain information from all the various entities with whom employees have investment accounts? Would this potentially limit SEC employees investment options to only brokerage companies that can provide data to OEC? Brokerage firms are already considered restricted entities and SEC employees cannot invest in brokerage firms. How does limiting SEC employee investment options to particular brokerage firms not result in conflict of interest? The SECs mission is to protect investors. Please be aware, SEC employees are also investors. Protect us as investors. Protect our investment account information. Protect our ability to have investment options, both by allowing us to use all the same brokerage firms as other US Citizens and allowing us to participate in diversified funds.