Naked short selling, or naked shorting, is the practice of short-selling a tradable asset of any kind without first borrowing the security or ensuring that the security can be borrowed, as is conventionally done in a short sale. When the seller does not obtain the shares within the required time frame, the result is known as a “failure to deliver” (“FTD”). The transaction generally remains open until the shares are acquired by the seller, or the seller’s broker settles the trade.
Article: The Federal Reserve Bank is Naked: QE 10T Dollar ‘Loans’ Swaps and Naked Mortgage Bonds of Quantitative Easing 1
Article - MediaLan Pham
Economics Voodoo, 28 December 2012
The banking and financial crisis emerging in September 2008 is often called a global financial crisis, but to be more precise the data point to a crisis of the Western central banks. I referenced euros previously, so this is the euros companion to Quantitative Easing 0-1-2-3∞ & The Federal Reserve’s Love Affair with its Banks and Mortgage Bonds: Levitating The Black Hole. QE 0-1-2-3 is incomplete as concurrently the Federal Reserve Bank also entered into $10.06 Trillion in dollar ‘loans’ liquidity swaps with foreign central banks that we examine in Section I. Why QE $10T as we look at a few of Europe’s largest banks in Section II, which leads us to the $1.25 Trillion naked reasons behind the Federal Reserve Bank’s Quantitative Easing I purchase of phantom agency mortgage bonds that we revisit more closely in Section III.
Paper: Regulation of Naked Short Selling by Congressional Research Service
PaperRegulation of Naked Short Selling
Name Redacted
Congressional Research Service, 31 July 2009
Until the current financial crisis, the SEC did not view short selling of large, blue-chip stocks as a problem. In July 2008, however, the SEC temporarily banned naked short sales of the stock of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and 17 other large financial institutions. On September 18, 2008, the SEC banned all short selling of the shares of more than 700 financial companies in an emergency action that expired on October 8, 2008. On October 1, 2008, the SEC adopted an interim rule requiring short sellers’ brokers to actually borrow shares to deliver to buyers, within one day after the expiration the normal three-day settlement time frame. The rule was made permanent on July 27, 2009, and it applies to all stocks. This report will be updated as events warrant.
PDF (10 Pages): Paper CRS Regulation on Naked Short Selling
Article: Crisis of Convenience for Roiling SEC
Article - MediaCrisis of Convenience for Roiling SEC
David Patch
InvestigateTheSEC.com via Wayback, 30 October 2008
To say that support for the Securities and Exchange Commission is at an all time low would be an understatement. With Congressional Investigations into the agencies handling of critical investigations and recent reports out of the Office of Inspector General, investors are left guessing as to what exactly the agency is doing to police our markets. Heck, even a presidential candidate has suggested that the SEC Chairman should be fired and it was his party that hired him.
Web: Naked in Wonderland
WebPatrick Byrne
Forbes via Wayback, 23 September 2008
Recent concerns about short-selling have culminated in a regulatory flurry of emergency orders and amendments. What should be of concern, however, is not short-selling per se: As its devotees frequently remind us, short-selling is a vital and legitimate market activity. What should be of concern are specific types of stock manipulation that cloak themselves within legitimate activities such as shorting, and which, in one way or another, rely upon loopholes in our nation’s system of stock settlement.
“Settlement” is the moment in a stock trade when the seller receives money and the buyer receives stock. Our settlement system has gaping loopholes that allow sellers to sell shares but fail to deliver them. In such cases, the system creates IOUs for shares, and lets those “stock IOUs” circulate in the expectation the seller will soon correct his error. This is harmless–as long as the IOUs are inadvertent, temporary and few.
Article: Calling Out the Culprits Who Caused the Crisis
Article - MediaCalling Out the Culprits Who Caused the Crisis
Eric D. Hovde
Washington Post via Wayback, 21 September 2008
Looking for someone to blame for the shambles in U.S. financial markets? As someone who owns both an investment bank and commercial banks, and also runs a hedge fund, I have sat front and center and watched as this mess unfolded. And in my view, there’s no need to look beyond Wall Street — and the halls of power in Washington. The former has created the nightmare by chasing obscene profits, and the latter have allowed it to spread by not practicing the oversight that is the federal government’s responsibility.
Article: New SEC Rules Target ‘Naked’ Short-Selling
Article - MediaNew SEC Rules Target ‘Naked’ Short-Selling
Marcy Gordon
Associated Press, 18 September 2008
Federal regulators yesterday took measures aimed at reining in aggressive forms of short-selling that were blamed in part for the demise of Lehman Brothers and that some feared could be used against other vulnerable companies in a turbulent market.
The Securities and Exchange Commission adopted rules it said would provide permanent protections against abusive “naked” short-selling. Unlike the SEC’s temporary emergency ban this summer covering naked short-selling in the stocks of mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and 17 large investment banks, the new rules apply to trading in the broader market.
Article: SEC reins in ‘naked’ short selling, will check recent trades
Article - MediaSEC reins in ‘naked’ short selling, will check recent trades
Adam Shell
abc, 18 September 2008
Reacting to concerns that many financial stocks were losing value at an alarming rate due to aggressive bets by short sellers who profit when prices fall, federal regulators on Wednesday acted to stem the abusive practice known as “naked short selling.”
In an ordinary short sale, a short seller borrows stock and sells it, with the hope of buying it back later at a lower price to replace the borrowed shares.
Paper: The Counterfeiting of Shares of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
PaperThe Counterfeiting of Shares of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: Where are Our Regulators and Who are They Protecting?
17 September 2008
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are publicly traded Government Sponsored Enterprises (―GSEs‖), a quasi – partnership between the private sector and the government. The shares of the GSEs trading in the public markets have been counterfeited and deliberately manipulated. This is not rocket science; known ownership of the GSEs shares exceeded the number of shares that were available. Counterfeiting shares of the GSEs caused their stock prices to collapse. The regulators turned a blind eye to the takedown, encouraged it or were not effective enough to recognize it and enforce the laws against market manipulation that have existed since the 1930s. The industry and the regulators have little room for a plausible deniability claim that they did not know what was occurring in the trading of the GSEs.
PDF (33 pages): The Counterfeiting of Shares of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: Where are Our Regulators and Who are They Protecting?
Article: SEC’s ban on short-selling Fannie, Freddie ends
Article - MediaSEC’s ban on short-selling Fannie, Freddie ends
Marcy Gordon
New York Times, 13 August 2008
A government order expires Tuesday that temporarily banned a certain kind of short-selling of the stocks of mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE) and 17 large investment banks.
The companies’ shares have stabilized since the ban took effect July 21. The Securities and Exchange Commission says its order helped prevent stock manipulation, and that regulators will be able to analyze data to gauge its effectiveness. But some experts say that may be difficult to determine.
Article: Did It Help to Curb Short Sales?
Article - MediaDid It Help to Curb Short Sales?
Floyd Norris
The New York Times, 12 August 2008
A rule that made it harder to short some financial stocks and that may have helped raise prices and reduce the volume of shorting in those stocks expired Tuesday, as the Securities and Exchange Commission considers whether to tighten the rules on all short selling.
It may be a coincidence, but the announcement of the rule on July 15 coincided with the bottom of the bear market for financial stocks, which leaped that day and are now well above where they were. And the final day proved to be a very bad day for those shares.
Release: SEC Enhances Investor Protections Against Naked Short Selling
ReleaseSEC Enhances Investor Protections Against Naked Short Selling
15 July 2008
The Securities and Exchange Commission today issued an emergency order to enhance investor protections against “naked” short selling in the securities of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and primary dealers at commercial and investment banks.
