Subject: Re: Order Competition Rule, File No. S7-31-22, Release No.34-96495
From: Jim Folk
Affiliation:

Mar. 12, 2023



To Whom It May Concern:

I'm reaching out to show my support for the proposed "Order
Competition Rule, File No. S7-31-22, Release No.34-96495". According
to my understanding, currently, more than 90% of marketable orders
from individual investors are routed to off-exchange dealers known as
wholesalers, who execute the orders internally without providing any
opportunity for other market participants to compete. The proposed
rule would require certain orders of individual investors to be
exposed to competition in fair and open auctions before they could be
executed internally by any trading center that restricts
order-by-order competition.

I believe the proposal is designed to benefit individual investors by
promoting competition and transparency and to benefit investors
generally, including institutional investors, by giving them
opportunities to trade directly with individual investor orders that
are mostly inaccessible to them in the current market structure.

Therefore I urge you to implement this rule as soon as possible with
the utmost urgency.

Thank you.

Jim Farrel