SYDNEY -(Dow Jones)- Three groups representing funds managers in the U.S, U.K and Australia Wednesday have joined together to call on market regulators to withhold information on short selling positions from the public.
The U.S Investment Company Institute, U.K Investment Management Association and Australia's Investment and Financial Services Association said they are all committed to regulatory reform designed to combat market manipulation.
In a joint statement, the three organizations said they support disclosure of short selling positions to market regulators or supervisors. But the industry groups, which together represent US$15.54 trillion of assets under management, said disclosing positions to the public immediately could increase downward selling pressure on stocks and reduce the incentive for brokers to produce research.
"While it is critical that market regulators have access to trading information of individual market participants to protect against market abuse, public disclosure should be designed to promote market confidence and not to facilitate trading strategies," the associations said in a joint statement.
Disclosure to the public could occur, but on a single-aggregated, delayed basis, the associations said.
Their call comes after regulators and investors around the world late last year became concerned that short sellers were exacerbating the global financial crisis by using negative rumors to drive down company's share prices.
A short selling ban in the U.S was lifted last October while a ban in the U.K will be lifted on Jan. 16.
The Australian securities regulator has ended its ban on short selling of non-financial stocks but a ban on financials will stay until at least Jan. 27.
In November, the Australian regulator introduced interim measures requiring traders to disclose short sale data to the Australian Securities Exchange for release to the public the next day.
The industry associations said short selling played a crucial role in investment strategies and risk management activities, and also contributed to market liquidity and price efficiency.
-By Ross Kelly, Dow Jones Newswires; 61-2-8235-2957; ross.kelly@dowjones.com
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Publié le 06 janvier 2009 Copyright © 2009 Dowjones