February 13, 2021
Dear SEC:
Please keep politics out of business. Americans of all political persuasions have investments that are traded on the Nasdaq stock exchange. The Nasdaq platform should be used to buy and sell equities - that is all. A stock exchange is not an appropriate platform for implementing national social policy. Policy discussions and changes are the realm of open debate in the United States Congress.
Also, I thought it was illegal to make hiring decisions based on race, gender, and sexual orientation. So why does Nasdaq wants the SEC to implement a rule that violates those prohibitions?
Additionally, what does a person's skin color have to do with business ability? What does a person's gender have to do with business ability? Why is a person's sleeping partner a qualifier for ability to run a business? Is anyone going to take seriously the \"token\" woman, or \"token\" Hispanic, or \"token\" gay on a board of directors? No. But people will take seriously someone who achieves such a position based on qualifications and merit.
The proposal for the rule change states that \"Nasdaq reviewed dozens of empirical studies and found that an extensive body of academic research demonstrates that diverse boards are positively associated with improved corporate governance and financial performance.\" (p7) If that is true, then the SEC should let market forces work. If \"diverse\" businesses have \"improved financial ... performance\" then investors will reward those business, and, conversely, investors will punish businesses that are not \"diverse\".
Again, I urge the SEC to keep politics out of business. Let \"efficient market\" forces weed out so-called poor performing \"non-diverse\" businesses - not Nasdaq social engineering.
Thank you,
R. Harris