(a) If a participant of a registered clearing agency has a fail to deliver position at a registered clearing agency in a non-reporting threshold security for 13 consecutive settlement days, the participant shall immediately thereafter close out the fail to deliver position by purchasing securities of like kind and quantity.
(1) Provided, however, if a participant of a registered clearing agency has a fail to deliver position at a registered clearing agency for thirty-five consecutive settlement days in a non-reporting threshold security that was sold pursuant to SEC Rule 144, the participant shall immediately thereafter close out the fail to deliver position in the security by purchasing securities of like kind and quantity. The requirements in paragraph (b) shall apply to all such fails to deliver that are not closed out in conformance with this paragraph (a)(1).
(b) If a participant of a registered clearing agency has a fail to deliver position at a registered clearing agency in a non-reporting threshold security for 13 consecutive settlement days (or 35 consecutive settlement days if entitled to rely on paragraph (a)(1)), the participant and any broker or dealer for which it clears transactions, including any market maker that would otherwise be entitled to rely on the exception provided in paragraph (b)(2)(iii) of Rule 203 of SEC Regulation SHO, may not accept a short sale order in the non-reporting threshold security from another person, or effect a short sale in the non-reporting threshold security for its own account, without borrowing the security or entering into a bona-fide arrangement to borrow the security, until the participant closes out the fail to deliver position by purchasing securities of like kind and quantity and that purchase has cleared and settled at a registered clearing agency.
(c) If a participant of a registered clearing agency reasonably allocates a portion of a fail to deliver position to another registered broker or dealer for which it clears trades or for which it is responsible for settlement, based on such broker or dealer's short position, then the provisions of this Rule relating to such fail to deliver position shall apply to the portion of the fail to deliver position allocated to such registered broker or dealer, and not to the participant.
(d) A participant of a registered clearing agency shall not be deemed to have fulfilled the requirements of this Rule where the participant enters into an arrangement with another person to purchase securities as required by this Rule, and the participant knows or has reason to know that the other person will not deliver securities in settlement of the purchase.
(e) For the purposes of this Rule, the following terms shall have the meanings below:
(1) the term “market maker” has the same meaning as in Section 3(a)(38) of the Exchange Act.
(2) the term “non-reporting threshold security” means any equity security of an issuer that is not registered pursuant to
Section 12 of the Exchange Act and for which the issuer is not required to file reports pursuant to
Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act:
(A) for which there is an aggregate fail to deliver position for five consecutive settlement days at a registered clearing agency of 10,000 shares or more and for which on each settlement day during the five consecutive settlement day period, the reported last sale during normal market hours for the security on that settlement day that would value the aggregate fail to deliver position at $50,000 or more, provided that if there is no reported last sale on a particular settlement day, then the price used to value the position on such settlement day would be the previously reported last sale; and
(B) is included on a list published by FINRA.
A security shall cease to be a non-reporting threshold security if the aggregate fail to deliver position at a registered clearing agency does not meet or exceed either of the threshold tests specified in paragraph (e)(2)(A) of this
Rule for five consecutive settlement days.
(3) the term “participant” means a participant as defined in Section 3(a)(24) of the Exchange Act, that is a FINRA member.
(4) the term “registered clearing agency” means a clearing agency, as defined in Section 3(a)(23)(A) of the Exchange Act, that is registered with the SEC pursuant to Section 17A of the Exchange Act.
(5) the term “settlement day” means any business day on which deliveries of securities and payments of money may be made through the facilities of a registered clearing agency.
(f) Pursuant to the
Rule 9600 Series, the staff, for good cause shown after taking into consideration all relevant factors, may grant an exemption from the provisions of this
Rule, either unconditionally or on specified terms and conditions, to any transaction or class of transactions, or to any security or class of securities, or to any person or class of persons, if such exemption is consistent with the protection of investors and the public interest.
