February 7, 2022
I am not the best with words, but my thoughts agree with the below, which has been submitted by others as well.
The fact that the SEC needs public comment on whether or not fraud should be made illegal says a lot about the state of the market today.
I am a retail investor and I agree with this proposed rule. It's hard to have faith in the market when I know I am being defrauded by institutional players.
It's not enough to simply legislate, we need punishments to match crimes. If the penalty for committing fraud is a fine only a fraction the size of the profits from committing the fraud, then that's not a punishment, it's a tax.
If we are to see real reform in our markets and a return of confidence from investors, we need regulation, transparency, and meaningful enforcement/consequences for fraud and other financial crime.