I am writing as a humble retail investor. Recent events and research have demonstrated that the entire securities market is built around big players taking money directly from retail investors and legitimate corporations who have zero recourse. The current system for reporting short sales is laughably ineffective. It is completely obscured from retail traders, intentionally preventing free trade based on equal knowledge. Naked short sellers are able to collude to drive down the price of a stock with a limitless supply of fraudulent shares. Aside from further evidence and speculation since then, one absolute fact is that in early January, the short interest reported for $GME was at 140% of the available float shares. Someone, or everyone, had sold short more shares than exist to trade on the market. This is impossible in a legitimate system. The system does not *contain* fraud and corruption, the system is *built on* fraud and corruption. Until regulating bodies rein in the ability of big players to bend the rules to their will, I have lost all faith in the US financial system and in the ability of you, the regulator, to oversee anything for the good of the common man. Specifically, the changes I would like to see include: - legitimate penalties for those breaking the rules, up to or greater than all profits made on illegitimate trades, rather than small slaps on the wrist that incentivize rule breakers - publicly verifiable information about all trades and balances of securities on the market, especially short sales - requirement of serialized registration of all shares traded on the market - eradication of high frequency trading or at least its ability to influence the open market by executing in dark pools, including those registered as alternative trading system exchanges, or not registered such as Citadel Connect - elimination of payment for order flow
John Taseff Comment On Regulatory Notice 21-19
I am writing as a humble retail investor. Recent events and research have demonstrated that the entire securities market is built around big players taking money directly from retail investors and legitimate corporations who have zero recourse. The current system for reporting short sales is laughably ineffective. It is completely obscured from retail traders, intentionally preventing free trade based on equal knowledge. Naked short sellers are able to collude to drive down the price of a stock with a limitless supply of fraudulent shares. Aside from further evidence and speculation since then, one absolute fact is that in early January, the short interest reported for $GME was at 140% of the available float shares. Someone, or everyone, had sold short more shares than exist to trade on the market. This is impossible in a legitimate system. The system does not *contain* fraud and corruption, the system is *built on* fraud and corruption. Until regulating bodies rein in the ability of big players to bend the rules to their will, I have lost all faith in the US financial system and in the ability of you, the regulator, to oversee anything for the good of the common man. Specifically, the changes I would like to see include: - legitimate penalties for those breaking the rules, up to or greater than all profits made on illegitimate trades, rather than small slaps on the wrist that incentivize rule breakers - publicly verifiable information about all trades and balances of securities on the market, especially short sales - requirement of serialized registration of all shares traded on the market - eradication of high frequency trading or at least its ability to influence the open market by executing in dark pools, including those registered as alternative trading system exchanges, or not registered such as Citadel Connect - elimination of payment for order flow