Ed. Note: Last week, II published a story regarding a dispute between some retail “meme” investors and Citadel Securities. The story also covered a related lawsuit. Since that story ran, a federal judge in Florida dismissed that lawsuit. The initial story, however, prompted the following response from Citadel Securities.
To the Editor:
We believe your November 14 article “Why a California Bartender Won’t Stop Trolling Citadel’s Ken Griffin” failed to highlight a foundational principle of U.S. equity market structure.
Specifically, the article neglected to make clear that retail investors have benefitted significantly from the competition the SEC catalyzed through years of thoughtful regulation. Retail brokers are legally required to route retail orders based upon best execution. Best execution focuses on a retail broker securing the best possible price for its client as well as faster and more certain execution, among other factors.
Citadel Securities’ ability to execute a significant percentage of retail trading volume is the result of the enormous investments we have made to develop superior analytics, technology, and risk management systems. Our commitment to providing retail investors the best execution across all market conditions saved those investors in equities and options over $3 billion in 2020 when compared to the National Best Bid and Offer.
A thorough explanation of equity market structure, including a more nuanced description of the best execution obligation, would have made clear the enormous advantages our markets confer upon retail investors.
