The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has extended its temporary order requiring institutional investment managers to report short sales of Section 13(f) securities. The order has been extended so that it will now terminate at 11:59 p.m. ET on October 17, 2008.
The order requires every institutional investment manager that filed, or was required to file, Form 13F for the calendar quarter ended June 30, 2008 to file a report disclosing the number and value of securities sold short for each section 13(f) security. This information must be reported on the new Form SH and must include all section 13(f) securities sold short. The new form must be filed through EDGAR. Reports must be filed on the first business day of every calendar week immediately following a week in which the institutional investment manager affected short sales. Therefore, the first reports should have been filed last Monday, September 29, 2008. The second of these reports is due today, Monday, October 6, 2008 by 5:30 ET. Disclosure of short positions and short sales will only be made to the SEC, and not publicly available, which appears to be a direct result of requests made by numerous institutional investment managers.
According to the SEC’s October 1 press release, while the order is temporary, the SEC intends that the order will continue in effect beyond October 17, 2008 without interruption in the form of an interim final rule. The SEC will seek comments on all aspects of the anticipated rule.
RIA Compliance Consultants, Inc. provides Form SH consulting services on an hourly-fee basis. Please contact Jarrod James, Senior Compliance Consultant, if your firm needs help understanding the Form SH requirements, preparing the Form SH or submitting Form SH.
