Some of the language in the comment letter - such as admonishing the SEC to reconsider its cost-benefit analysis - could portend the bringing of a legal challenge under the Administrative Procedure Act.

The SEC had, for a time, focused considerable regulatory attention (and brought ) on the use of expert networks. Firms may want to go back and look at those prior enforcement actions and see whether their procedures should be refreshed.

As to alternative data, determining the bona fides of it can be a difficult task. However, if a firm is not able to demonstrate that it has made a reasonable effort to confirm that all such data has been obtained from a source that has the…

Adam Smith is not ordinarily associated with the concept that information should be free. Rather, he is more commonly associated with the "invisible hand," which is the concept that beneficial outcomes may arise from self-interested individual economic decision-making. Judging by the rate at which the SEC is churning out rule proposals, one would think that Mr. Gensler is not much of a fan of Adam Smith.

As to the concept that information should always be free, that is not a generally…

Historically, the bank regulators resisted the application of investor protection regimes derived from the securities laws on banks, probably wishing to avoid subjecting banks to the potential for substantial consumer liability under the securities laws. Presumably, the MSRB would not have gone forward with this proposal unless the bank regulators were amenable.