Matthew Westfall Comment On Regulatory Notice 21-19
Matthew Westfall
N/A
FINRA 21-19 is a long overdue change and it has my full support. It is clear that the integrity of the United States market has been strained to the edge of disaster, in large part due to systemic risk developed under the regulatory authority of FINRA's outdated short interest reporting policy. Numerous short hedge funds and other entities abuse this regulatory gap to hide what is very likely extensive and illegal naked shorting and synthetics, thereby leading to manipulation of markets. While many of the policies mentioned in Regulatory Notice 21-19 address the general breadth of exploitable and ineffective reporting, they also leave significant specific gaps that could compromise the entirety of 21-19's purpose. It is critical for the restoration of both the stability of the US markets and the confidence of the investors within it that any and all regulation changes regarding short interest reporting be effective in every known circumstance where effective short positions, synthetic or not, can go unaccounted for for any length of time greater than any other short position reporting deadline. Additionally, the cost of operations necessary for applicable market members to accommodate these standards cannot be reasonably compared to the cost of a compromised market with systemic risk or the loss of investor confidence and participation in the US economy. This should not be used as an argument to thwart effective and fair markets.
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Matthew Westfall Comment On Regulatory Notice 21-19
FINRA 21-19 is a long overdue change and it has my full support. It is clear that the integrity of the United States market has been strained to the edge of disaster, in large part due to systemic risk developed under the regulatory authority of FINRA's outdated short interest reporting policy. Numerous short hedge funds and other entities abuse this regulatory gap to hide what is very likely extensive and illegal naked shorting and synthetics, thereby leading to manipulation of markets. While many of the policies mentioned in Regulatory Notice 21-19 address the general breadth of exploitable and ineffective reporting, they also leave significant specific gaps that could compromise the entirety of 21-19's purpose. It is critical for the restoration of both the stability of the US markets and the confidence of the investors within it that any and all regulation changes regarding short interest reporting be effective in every known circumstance where effective short positions, synthetic or not, can go unaccounted for for any length of time greater than any other short position reporting deadline. Additionally, the cost of operations necessary for applicable market members to accommodate these standards cannot be reasonably compared to the cost of a compromised market with systemic risk or the loss of investor confidence and participation in the US economy. This should not be used as an argument to thwart effective and fair markets.