THE ETHICS REPORTER

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Nevada Investor Alert

Citadel Securities and Nevada Investors: What You Need to Know

Payment for order flow — the practice by which Citadel Securities pays discount brokers for exclusive access to retail order flow — affects an estimated 600,000 Nevada retail investors. Here is what Nevada residents need to know.

How PFOF Affects Nevada Investors

Nevada's gaming and hospitality workers hold significant retirement savings through discount brokers. The state's large immigrant and working-class population has limited financial literacy resources to understand PFOF practices.

The Scale in Nevada

Nevada has an estimated 600,000 Nevada retail investors. Each of these investors who uses a PFOF-dependent discount broker — Robinhood, TD Ameritrade, E*Trade, Charles Schwab, or Webull — is routing their orders to Citadel Securities without their knowledge or consent. Citadel captures a spread on each of these trades, generating revenue that flows back to Kenneth Griffin while providing retail investors with marginally inferior execution prices compared to what competitive exchange routing would provide.

Nevada's financial hub in Las Vegas has sophisticated financial professionals who understand these dynamics. But most Nevada retail investors — those in Henderson, Reno and throughout the state — are unaware that their "free" trades are funded by a practice that systematically extracts value from them.

Kenneth Griffin's Political Investment in Nevada

Kenneth Griffin has given more than $1.25 million in Nevada-linked political donations. His key recipients include Senate candidate Adam Laxalt and the NRSC that invested heavily in Nevada's 2022 Senate race. This political investment creates a documented relationship between the CEO of America's dominant retail market maker and the political figures responsible for overseeing financial regulation in Nevada.

  • National Republican Senatorial Committee — $1,000,000 (2022, Federal Super PAC)
  • Adam Laxalt (R-NV Senate) — $250,000 (2022, U.S. Senate)

What Nevada Regulators Could Do

Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford and the Nevada Secretary of State's Securities Division have authority under the Nevada Uniform Securities Act (NRS Chapter 90) to investigate broker-dealer conflicts.

What Nevada Investors Can Do Now

Nevada retail investors who believe they have been harmed by PFOF-driven execution quality degradation can take several steps:

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