February 19, 2022
As a retail trader I am in full agreeance with Commissioner Gensler regarding the settlement cycle. Shortening the settlement cycle will benefit retail traders in numerous ways and greatly reduce the risk.
The recent volatility in the markets, combined with the bad actors who are doing everything they can to rig the game against retail traders, have made longer settlement cycles even more dangerous. Several stocks have record levels of shorts. Volatility + Longer Settlement Cycles are a recipe for disaster, meaning large swings would require more collateral to be posted and would allow for more manipulation and excuses to do activities that should, quite frankly, result in people going to prison (such as turning off the Buy button but not the Sell button of a stock).
While I understand and greatly respect the work that is being done by the current SEC and others to shorten the settlement cycle, I believe 2 years to be too long. I can't even begin to understand the complexity of changing the settlement cycle, but I would urge the SEC to do so as quickly as possible and explore avenues to make this transition happen quicker.
Also, please continue to pursue T+0 as it is the best scenario in the long run.
Thank you, your work is greatly appreciated