The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the US Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced parallel actions against an activist short seller and his firm, charging them with multiple counts of securities fraud....more
The U.K. is currently engaged in a wide-ranging review of the inherited package of EU financial services law. The rules on short selling, which impose disclosure obligations and restrictions on persons seeking an economic...more
Welcome to the UK Regulation Round Up, a regular bulletin highlighting the latest developments in UK and EU financial services regulation. ...more
The U.K. government has published a draft version of the Short Selling Regulations 2024. The draft SSR 2024 will replace the existing U.K. Short Selling Regulation, which was onshored from the EU and which is being repealed...more
On 22 November 2023, HM Treasury (HMT) published a draft of the Short Selling Regulations 2024 (the Draft SI) and an accompanying explanatory policy note (the Note). The Draft SI and Note follow the UK Government’s...more
On November 16, 2023, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part a motion to dismiss a derivative action brought by a shareholder of a publicly traded biotechnology company...more
On October 13, 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved final rules requiring increased disclosure of short selling activities of institutional investment managers and securities lending activities of...more
The Nature of Short Selling Attacks and Short Reports - Short selling attacks create unique challenges for boards, management teams and companies. Unlike traditional long activists, whose ultimate goal is to enhance...more
Short sellers make their money by publishing information that attacks a company in order to drive down its share price. How can a company prepare? And what should it not do in the face of a short attack? We offer some tips in...more
The UK Government has published its response to a call for evidence for a review of the Short Selling Regulation. The review was initiated as part of the UK’s aim to deliver a “Smarter Regulatory Framework” for financial...more
On December 8, 2022, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) published CSA Staff Notice 25-306 Activist Short Selling Update (Staff Notice 25-306) and Joint CSA and IIROC Staff Notice 23-329 Short Selling in...more
31 March - SFTR: The European Securities and Markets Authority (“ESMA”) published an updated version of its Q&As (ESMA74-362-893) on complying with reporting requirements under the Regulation on reporting and transparency...more
On March 10, 2023, volatility resulting from concerns regarding runs on certain banks triggered trading halts in those banks’ stocks on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and Nasdaq. March 13, 2023, saw additional trading...more
As the year draws to an end, it is clear that 2022 will be the year when short-selling activism and short-seller reports gained real traction in Sweden. From being virtually unheard of in the Swedish context, the use of...more
On 9 December 2022, in Edinburgh, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a set of reforms that are intended to drive growth and competitiveness in the financial services sector (the Edinburgh Reforms or the Reforms). ...more
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/1288, setting out the regulatory technical standards (RTS) to be used by financial market participants (FMPs) when disclosing sustainability-related information under the Sustainable...more
As SPAC litigation continues to proliferate, it is more important than ever that officers and directors of companies undertaking a de-SPAC transaction be mindful of litigation risks and adopt strategies for managing them....more
The European Securities and Markets Authority has published a report on its review of certain aspects of the EU Short Selling Regulation. The review was prompted by the volume of short selling that occurred around the...more
On February 25, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a new Proposed Rule 13f-2 requiring institutional money managers to file with the SEC, on a monthly basis, certain short sale related data. A short sale is a...more
In This Issue. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed a new rule to increase market transparency regarding short selling and extended the comment period for its proposed rule requiring reporting on...more
On February 9, 2022, Judge Lorna G. Schofield of the Southern District of New York denied in part and granted in part a motion to dismiss a securities fraud action asserting claims related to alleged spoofing and short...more
On January 26, 2022, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler issued a brief statement noting the agency’s efforts to address the market volatility in January 2021 and beyond. The statement referenced the SEC staff report on volatility and...more
As previously notified, the European Commission has revised rules to permanently lower the initial net short position reporting threshold from 0.2 per cent to 0.1 per cent under the EU Short Selling Regulation (EU SSR) and...more
A Commission Delegated Regulation, published in the Official Journal of the European Union, amends the EU Short Selling Regulation to make permanent the lower notification threshold for notifying national regulators of net...more
The European Commission has published rules to permanently lower the initial net short position reporting threshold from 0.2 per cent to 0.1 per cent under the EU Short Selling Regulation (EU SSR). The lower disclosure...more