Oct 20, 2003 (financialwire.net via COMTEX) --
(FinancialWire) In a surprise announcement that has
shot through the U.S. microcap securities community
like a lightening bolt, the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission said late last week it will
consider a new Regulation SHO Wednesday, October 22,
at its 10 a.m. meeting. The regulation would require
short sellers in all equity securities to locate
securities to borrow before selling short, and add
further requirements to address "naked" short selling.
The practice of selling stocks without securing
certificates has pitted at least 13 market makers,
including Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB), Goldman, Sachs
& Co. (NYSE: GS), Knight Securities, LP (NASDAQ:
NITE), and Ladenburg Thalmann & Co., Inc. (AMEX: LHS),
against some 106 public companies claiming "foul" for
over a year now, and has also called into question the
electronic settlement system run by the Depository
Trust and Clearing Corp. more commonly referred to as
the "DTC."
Despite its immense power in the securities industry,
and its "old boy" network of directors, the Depository
Trust has so far largely escaped the governance crises
that have struck, first the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission itself under Harvey L. Pitt, and
then the New York Stock Exchange and the American
Stock Exchange, currently owned by NASDAQ (OTCBB:
NDAQ).
Among other things, Regulation SHO would institute a
new uniform bid test, applicable to exchange-listed
and NASDAQ National Market System securities, that
would allow short sales to be effected at a price
above the consolidated best bid. Regulation SHO would
also suspend the operation of the proposed bid test
for specified highly liquid securities on a two-year
pilot basis.
The hearing, and assuming the SEC approves the staff's
proposal, the subsequent public comment period, is
expected to attract immense interest, as shareholders
and company executives vent their frustrations. SEC
spokesperson John Heine told FinancialWire that the
Wednesday hearings will be webcast directly from the
SEC at www.sec.gov. |
