February 7, 2022
As an individual investor (''retail investor''), the events of the past year, beginning with the suppressed ''short squeeze'' of GameStop, et al., and the shutting off of the ''buy button'' for said securities, have clearly shown me that the ''free market'' is not a free market for everyone, but a clever illusion that Wall Street has been projecting for a long time. Among other disgusting revelations, we now know Market Makers (Market Manipulators) have had the ability through multiple nefarious (and as-yet unenforced) means to essentially create fraudulent shares from thin air in order to sell short, thus artificially deflating the valuation of a security, depriving the investing public of material value for their investments, and in the process damaging and destroying companies making earnest contributions to society.
These proposed rules are a necessary step in the right direction for the protection of the average individual investor. Fines and punishments must also be made more appropriate to the enormous scale of the fraud and financial crimes that continue unabated to this day. As it is, it is just a slight ''cost of doing business'' as these crimes pay huge dividends yet result in but a mere slap on the wrist to the bad actors, who invariably do it all over again because the rules and enforcement are ruthlessly toothless.
I support enacting these rules and implore the SEC to continue to make strides towards a fairer and more transparent market for individual investors. Thank you for your consideration.