Recently, the Commission issued proposals on key parts of our equity market system to make it more efficient, competitive, and fair. 

Every day, investors just like you turn to broker-dealers in our markets, often through brokerage apps, to build a better financial future. But I think that today’s markets are not as fair, not as competitive as possible.

Further, some of these rules are nearly – or even over – 20 years old. That was before the E*Trade Baby was even born!

Our markets have grown a great deal, too, transformed through ever-changing technology and business models. 

So, to modernize our rules for the modern markets—and to make our markets work better for everyone—we put forward four proposals. 

The proposals would:

First, level the playing field across different market centers. You’ve probably heard much of our market is traded in what’s called the dark market. Well, whether your trade is sent to the lit markets or the dark markets, market intermediaries should be competing for your orders so you get the best prices possible.

Secondly, ensure that brokers put your interests first. Even if a broker receives payment for order flow or has conflicts, they need to provide you best execution for those order.

Third, make more transparent to you the execution quality that brokers achieve for you—the customers, so you can compare brokers versus other brokers and find the one worthy of your business.

And fourth, update how our market does pricing increments and how the exchanges can even charge their fees. This is all to make pricing more competitive. 

These proposals are consistent with our mandate and guided by economic analysis. I think they would make our markets work better for all investors. 

But we need your input to get that done. 

Please weigh in. Submit comments. In the meantime, please stay tuned. Keep an eye out for more Office Hours videos on each of these four proposals. 

See video