- The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is set on Friday to adopt new rules that will increase transparency of short-selling, the controversial practice of betting against stocks that drew new scrutiny amid the GameStop saga.
Short selling involves borrowing a stock to sell it in the expectation the price will fall, repurchasing the shares and pocketing the difference. Should the price rise, the seller can be exposed to potentially unlimited losses. Since at least 2021, the Justice Department and the SEC have also been investigating potential manipulation by short sellers and hedge funds around the publication of negative research reports.Specifically, institutional investors would have to report gross short positions to the SEC monthly and certain "net" short activity for individual dates on which trades settle. The SEC would then publish aggregate stock-specific data on a delayed basis.