Apr. 20, 2022
Securities and Exchange Commission 100 F St. NW Washington, DC 20549-9303 rule- 20 April, 2022 Dear Sir or Madam, As a retail investor, I am strongly opposed to the proposed rule change SR-NSCC-2022-003. The continued proposal of rules of this type, attempting to bypass guidelines set out in Basel III, are highly damaging to retail investors, while benefiting large hedge funds and prime brokers. This rule appears to be another attempt at passing unpopular rules included in the failed SR-NSCC-2021-010, which received a large volume of negative comments from the retail investing community. Adoption of this rule is antithetical to the mission of the SEC and the repeated claims by Chairman Gensler that the SEC is “on the side of retail". It is time that the SEC stands up for retail investors and stops enabling Wall Street to decrease transparency in the marketplace and find regulatory loopholes that enable the delaying or avoidance of payment to legitimate counterparties when these large market participants take on inordinate amounts or risk. As per the text of the proposed rule SR-NSCC-2022-003, NSCC understands that SFTs provide liquidity to markets and facilitates the ability of market participants to make delivery on short-sales, and thereby avoid failures to deliver, “naked” shorts, and similar situations. The increasing number of FTDs and “naked” short positions in the market are the result of large market participants taking on substantial risk that puts their own customers and the retail investing public's investments at risk. The SEC and NSCC should not facilitate the ability of these financial institutions, which have knowingly entered into these high risk positions, to delay payment to counterparties and bypass margin requirements outlined in Basel III. From the SEC’s webpage, The mission of the SEC is to protect investors; maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets; and facilitate capital formation. The SEC strives to promote a market environment that is worthy of the public's trust. I strongly urge SEC to reflect and move to uphold the agency's intended purpose and mission. It is imperative that the SEC truly commit to promoting a market environment worthy of the public’s trust. The proposed rule SR-NSCC-2022-003 may facilitate efficiency in low liquidity situations that are the direct result of overly aggressive large market participants, however it fails to uphold all other portions of the SEC’s mission. Thank you for your time and consideration, Warren Bindon