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Further ASIC clarification on short selling

ASIC has announced that persons who have placed portfolio securities into a securities lending program provided by an established securities lending business and who wish to sell those securities (a sale) before they have completed a recall of those securities from the program can sell their securities from the program in the usual way.

ASIC will not take any action for a breach of short selling requirements in relation to the sale of those securities where all of the following apply:

The sale is a bona fide sale transaction from the portfolio.

The seller has made securities of the same type available (whether or not through a custodian) to the securities lender for use in a securities lending program, being securities in which the seller had full beneficial ownership or held as an institutional investor such as in a managed investment scheme, superannuation fund, insurance company statutory fund.

At the time of the sale, the seller is entitled to recall at least the number of securities which are the subject of the sale from the securities in the securities lending program.

Before or as soon as practicable after the sale, the seller recalls in written or electronic form, a sufficient number of securities from the securities lending program to settle the sale.

The sale is settled at the time required by the market rules (eg T + 3).

For the purposes of this no-action statement, a security includes a managed investment product.

Full post as published by Australian Regulatory Compliance Review on September 24, 2008 (boomark / email).