Word: sec
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...attempt to bring some stability to markets, the SEC announced a ban on naked short selling, the aggressive practice of betting on a stock's fall without first borrowing shares. But that did nothing to quell widespread speculation about which struggling financial institution would be the next to disappear. British bank Lloyds was in talks to buy beleaguered U.K. mortgage lender HBOS. Washington Mutual, the U.S.'s largest thrift, put itself up for auction, and Wells Fargo and Citigroup might be interested, according to reports. Morgan Stanley appeared to be on the table too. There were murmurs the investment bank...
...Morgan Stanley, in a memo to employees. "You should know that the Management Committee and I are taking every step possible to stop this irresponsible action in the market. We have talked to Secretary [Hank] Paulson and the Treasury. We have talked to Chairman [Chris] Cox and the SEC." Cox is listening, and is reportedly proposing a temporary ban on short selling, subject to approval by the SEC's commissioners. If short sellers could be rounded up and roasted as heretics to the true bull market religion, there'd be a rush of people from Lehman and Merrill fighting...
Yesterday, SEC Commissioner Cox responded to the pressure. The SEC instituted a "Hard T+3 Close-Out Requirement," meaning that short sellers and their broker-dealers must deliver securities by the close of business on the settlement, three days after the sale. It's an answer to previous complaints about the prevalence of so-called "naked" short selling: that is, selling shares that you don't actually have in hand, and have not made arrangements to have. Naked shorting allows traders to potentially manipulate stocks. The SEC is also considering an emergency order forcing hedge funds, which employ short selling...
There's a furious argument over whether shorts hastened the demise of Lehman and AIG, cutting the off their oxygen when it was desperately needed. And some have laid the blame at the feet of SEC commissioner Cox. "Chris Cox is responsible for the largest destruction of wealth in U.S. history," hissed Mad Money maestro Jim Cramer on his CNBC show on Tuesday. "Because of Cox, the shorts won." (Republican nominee John McCain called Thursday for Cox to be fired - the same Cox some conservatives touted as a possible running mate earlier this year. President Bush said he fully supports...
...Later in the day, the SEC chimed in to say that its staffers would be hanging around for the next few weeks to make sure customers' accounts are protected - i.e., not mixed up with money from other parts of the business...