New Mexico Investor Alert

Citadel Securities and New Mexico 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 360,000 New Mexico retail investors. Here is what New Mexico residents need to know.

How PFOF Affects New Mexico Investors

New Mexico has a significant Native American and Hispanic population with limited access to financial literacy resources. Retail investors in these communities face PFOF practices without adequate protection.

The Scale in New Mexico

New Mexico has an estimated 360,000 New Mexico 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.

New Mexico's financial hub in Albuquerque has sophisticated financial professionals who understand these dynamics. But most New Mexico retail investors — those in Santa Fe, Las Cruces 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 New Mexico

Kenneth Griffin has given contributions through national Republican organizations. His key recipients include national Republican committees that fund New Mexico candidates. 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 New Mexico.

Republican Governors Association — $500,000 (2022, Federal Super PAC)

What New Mexico Regulators Could Do

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez and the Securities Division have authority under the New Mexico Securities Act (NMSA §58-13B-1 et seq.) to investigate broker-dealer practices.

What New Mexico Investors Can Do Now

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

File a complaint with the New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department, Securities Division at https://www.rld.nm.gov/securities
File a complaint with the New Mexico Attorney General at https://www.nmag.gov
File a complaint with the SEC at sec.gov/tcr
File a complaint with FINRA at finra.org
Consider switching to a broker that does not use PFOF, such as Fidelity or Interactive Brokers direct routing

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