Article: The Economics of Naked Short Selling — The Koch Brothers Approve!

Paper

The Economics of Naked Short Selling

Christopher Culp and J. B. Heaton

Despite the cries of alarm, we believe that naked short selling
is unlikely to have significant detrimental effects on capital markets.
In this article, we will first examine the relevant economics
and regulation, and then argue that, from an economic perspective,
naked shorting is little different from traditional shorting.

PDF (6 Pages): Paper Economics of Naked Short Selling

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Article: The Naked Truth: Short Selling must be Banned

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The Naked Truth: Short Selling must be Banned

Terry McCrann

The Australian via Wayback, 5 April 2008

I refer to real – or so-called “naked” – short selling. So-called “covered” short selling is an altogether both simpler and more complex matter.

“Covered” short selling goes to the sort of volatility and transparency and possible malpractice issues that have battered a range of stocks over the past six months or so. It also goes to the fiduciary duties and practices of fund managers and trustees.

But there is no inherent reason to ban “covered” selling. And indeed the Corporations Act does not.

It arguably isn’t even short selling. More a contractual matter between the seller and the person from whom the seller has borrowed the stock. But with significant and reasonable disclosure issues for the ASX as the market.

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Article: SEC, CFTC Build Ties; Naked Short Selling

Article - Media

SEC, CFTC Build Ties; Naked Short Selling

Melissa Klein Aguilar

ComplianceWeek, 17 March 2008

Leaders of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission have pledged to build a stronger working relationship between their two agencies, in the face of ever-more blurry lines between securities, commodities, and futures.

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Article: SEC proposes tougher “naked” short selling rules

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SEC proposes tougher “naked” short selling rules

Rachelle Younglai, Richard Chang

Reuters, 4 March 2008

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday proposed tougher rules to curb so-called “naked” short-selling abuses and prevent market price manipulation.

SEC Chairman Christopher Cox said regulation SHO, an existing rule partly aimed at short selling abuses, “needs teeth.”

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Article: The Simple, Literal Explanation

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The Simple, Literal Explanation

Patrick Byrne

DeepCapture, 11 February 2008

The “St. Smallcap” example conveyed the dynamics of the manipulation, but it was only a metaphor. This blog will provide an explanation whose truth is more literal.

You and I enter a stock trade. You buy a share of stock from me. You hand over your money, and I hand over the share of stock. That is called, “settlement.”

It may surprise you to learn that there are loopholes in our nation’s regulations that permit some people, when it comes time to settle, to hand over nothing but an IOU. By using one of these loopholes, when the time comes for settlement I can take your money but say, “I’m not delivering you any stock. I’m just giving you an IOU for a share of stock that I will deliver later.”

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Rules: FINRA on Failure to Deliver

Notice
Failure to Deliver and Liability Notice Procedures
If a contract is for warrants, rights, convertible securities or other securities which (i) have been called for redemption; (ii) are due to expire by their terms; (iii) are the subject of a tender or exchange offer; or (iv) are subject to other expiring events such as a record date for the underlying security and the last day on which the securities must be delivered or surrendered (the expiration date) is the settlement date of the contract or later the receiving member may deliver a Liability Notice to the delivering member as an alternative to the close-out procedures set forth in paragraphs (a) through (g). When the parties to a contract are both participants in a registered clearing agency that has an automated service for notifying a failing party of the liability that will be attendant to a failure to deliver, the transmission of the liability notice must be accomplished through the use of said automated notification service. When the parties to a contract are not both participants in a registered clearing agency that has an automated service for notifying a failing party of the liability that will be attendant to a failure to deliver, [S]such [N]notice must be issued using written or comparable electronic media having immediate receipt capabilities no later than one business day prior to the latest time and the date of the offer or other event in order to obtain the protection provided by this Rule.

Article: Nanopierce Technologies, Inc. v. Southridge Capital Management

Article - Media, Publications

Nanopierce Technologies, Inc. v. Southridge Capital Management

Find a Case, 29 January 2008

Before the Court are three motions for summary judgment pursuant to Rule 56(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The three motions are addressed in the following order: first, the motion for summary judgment filed by Harvest Court (a co-defendant and subsidiary of Southridge); second, the motion for summary judgment filed by Counterclaim-Plaintiffs Kampmann and Metzinger (Nanopierce executives); and third, the motion for summary judgment filed by H. Glenn Bagwell, Jr. For the reasons stated below, Harvest Court’s motion for summary judgment is granted, Kampman and Metzinger’s motions for summary judgment are denied with respect to Counts 1, 7, 8, and 13, and granted with respect to Count 9. Bagwell’s motion for summary judgment is denied.

I. Background*fn1
In a September 26, 2000, meeting at defendant Southridge’s office, Nanopierce President Paul Metzinger negotiated an agreement with two Southridge employees, Defendants Singer and Pickett.*fn2 The negotiated agreement between Southridge and Nanopierce called for $7.5 million in initial financing in exchange for approximately 4.5 million shares of Nanopierce stock. The agreement also contained a provision providing “reset rights,” which entitled the Southridge to additional shares of common stock in the event the stock price declines. The reset clause included three reset dates (at 65, 130, and 195 days after the closing) at which additional shares would be issued if the stock was trading below the initial purchase price. Finally, the agreement also provided for an additional $7.5 million in financing at a future date, on the condition that Nanopierce’s stock met certain price and volume thresholds. Continue reading “Article: Nanopierce Technologies, Inc. v. Southridge Capital Management”

Article: Phantom shares

Article - Media

Phantom shares

Jonathan E. Johnson III

The Washington Times, 21 November 2007

In the late 1800s, American financier Daniel Drew refined the art of selling counterfeit shares. Drew’s biographer wrote, “There is no limit to the amount of blank shares a printing press can turn out. White paper is cheap… printer’s ink is also cheap.” Today, it is possible to counterfeit shares electronically — and it happens with such frightening regularity and impunity that Drew would be proud.

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Article: Overstock.com Congratulates Bloomberg Television for Its Emmy Nomination for ‘Phantom Shares’, a Special Report on Naked Short Selling

Article - Media, Publications

Overstock.com Congratulates Bloomberg Television for Its Emmy Nomination for ‘Phantom Shares’, a Special Report on Naked Short Selling

PRNewswire, 02 November 2007

Bloomberg Television’s special report on naked short selling entitled “Phantom Shares” was nominated for an Emmy(R) Award for Business & Financial Reporting by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The report, which was nominated for outstanding investigative reporting of a business news story – news magazines and long form, featured Overstock.com and its Chairman and CEO, Patrick Byrne, extensively. It examined the strategy and execution of naked short selling, the threat this poses to American entrepreneurship, and the steps regulators are taking to control it.

Patrick Byrne said of the news, “Unsettled trades in our stock settlement system present a serious problem to our capital markets. Bloomberg’s report shed light on the issue and brought it into the mainstream. It is an example of the critical, investigative mindset that is essentially absent within American financial journalism, and I am pleased to see Bloomberg being recognized for its fine work.”

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Article: Offshore shell games threaten global financial system

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Offshore shell games threaten global financial system

Lucy Komisar

The Komisar Scoop, 17 September 2007

There’s an astonishing article in the Washington Post’s Business Section (“Risk. Now They See It. Now You Don’t.“ Sept 16, 2007)

The Post, which has never, ever, railed against tax havens, is now suggesting that their use to cheat tax authorities and investors threatens the entire global financial system. Of course, it doesn’t put it so starkly, but that’s the gist.

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Testimony: Statement of Robert J. Shapiro The Economic Costs of Tolerating Equity “Failures to Deliver”

Testimony

Statement of Robert J. Shapiro: The Economic Costs of Tolerating Equity “Failures to Deliver”

Robert Shapiro

11 September 2007

I am Robert J. Shapiro. I am chairman of Sonecon, an economic advisory firm in Washington, D.C., and former U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs under President Clinton. I am also a Senior Policy Fellow at the Georgetown University Center for Business and Public Policy and a Senior Fellow of the Progressive Policy Institute. I have served previously as a fellow of Harvard University, the National Bureau of Economic Research, and the Brookings Institution.

PDF (3 pages): Statement of Robert J. Shapiro: The Economic Costs of Tolerating Equity “Failures to Deliver”

Article: Refco – When Smart Money Isn’t So Smart

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Refco: When Smart Money Isn’t So Smart

Matthew Goldstein

Bloomberg, 16 July 2007

The titans of the private equity world fancy themselves smarter, shrewder, and more sophisticated than any one else on Wall Street. Investors have bought into the sentiment as they’ve scooped up the shares of the private equity firms that have gone public recently: Blackstone Group (BX) and Fortress Investment Group (FIG). But a recent report on the spectacular collapse of Refco—the once-dominant commodities broker that was laid waste by a massive accounting fraud—paints an unflattering portrait of the private equity firm that engineered Refco’s August, 2004, leveraged buyout and its initial public offering a year later (see BusinessWeek.com, 7/11/07, “Kill the Private-Equity Tax Break”).

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