Newsletter April 09: US and global regulators consult on ‘short selling’

WASHINGTON – The panic restrictions on ‘short selling’ introduced by many countries last autumn are still producing regulatory fallout. In the US the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the securities markets watchdog, decided in early April to seek public comment on proposed new restrictions. A couple of weeks earlier, the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), the Madrid-based body representing over 100 national securities regulators around the world, began a public consultation on its proposed principles designed to help develop a more consistent international approach to the regulation of short selling.