Recent regulation bans short selling, which some blame in part for in part for the demise of Lehman and other potential companies in the current market. Read Euromoney's previous coverage of the pains this practice produced:
Hedge funds: Regulators come up short
Euromoney September 2008
In the US, the SEC imposed emergency rules this summer to restrict naked short sales in certain financial stocks and issued subpoenas to a long list of firms.
Naked shorting: Funds up in arms about short-selling ban
Euromoney August 2008
When the US SEC announced in July that it would impose a 30-day ban on illegal naked shorting in 19 stocks, some hedge funds were up in arms.
Naked shorting:
The curious incident of the shares that didn't exist
Euromoney April 2005
Shareholders and executives in some of the US's smallest listed companies believe their share prices have been forced down by illegal naked shorting. This has led to a number of lawsuits, claiming unscrupulous behaviour by brokers and market-makers exploiting loopholes in the central clearing system. Those implicated dismiss the allegations as rubbish. What's going on?
Glossary - What is naked short-selling? | Strategic failures
Letters to the editor: Reader responses
Responses:
- Larry Thompson: Defending the DTCC
- Robert J Shapiro: A case still to answer
SEC seeks to curb naked ambition
Euromoney April 2005
The SEC has amended legislation in a belated effort to clamp down on naked short selling. But it remains under pressure from a lobby group that ranges from senators to lawyers, and management to shareholders, who believe the new rules are having little effect.
Stung by the German connection
Euromoney April 2005
Thousands of US stocks are being traded on a little-known Berlin exchange, without the knowledge of many of the companies involved. Have the naked short sellers exported their practice overseas?