Nov. 5, 2019
Dear SEC,
Please reconsider your thought to change rule S7-14-19. The belief that this is to protect shareholders from fraud by forcing broker dealers to verify information before quoting a stock is a good idea. However, many small cap dark stocks have not published their information, which may be a result of the significant charge that is required to do this. I think this is a very significant factor why they do not publish data.
In addition, you allow these companies to go dark. Why allow this if you will be penalizing shareholders for this, since this rule will most likely cause these dark stocks to decline. Brokers will most likely not want to even do this additional step in verifying information before offering a quote.
As you know, many brokerages now offer free commissions with online orders, but if they have to verify data, this will not longer apply since you are contacting a broker. This is a lose/lose situation for the brokerage requiring more work, and for the individual investor. Often these smaller, lower volume dark companies are the only way an investor may obtain an edge over the big funds.
Please rethink your decision.
Cordially,
Robert Schmidt