Robinhood is throwing its weight behind an SEC proposal to kill a rule that most retail traders have never heard of, but one that quietly shapes every stock trade they make.
The company submitted a comment letter supporting the rescission of Rule 611, a regulation originally adopted in 2005 under Regulation NMS that prohibits “trade-throughs” in equity markets. In plain English: the rule requires brokers to route orders to whichever exchange is displaying the best price at that moment, even if executing elsewhere would be faster or cheaper overall.
A 2005 rule in a 2026 market
Matt Billings, Robinhood’s Vice President of Brokerage, made this case directly to Congress during a hearing on May 20, 2026. He argued that the rule reflects a market structure that no longer exists and that removing it wouldn’t compromise investor protections. Best-execution obligations under FINRA Rule 5310 would still require brokers to seek the most favorable terms for their customers.
The rule doesn’t just mandate best-price routing. It creates layers of compliance infrastructure that every broker and exchange must maintain. That complexity translates directly into operational costs, which ultimately get passed along to investors in various forms.
