FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Kaufman, Isakson Statement on SEC Roundtable on Short Selling

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Ted Kaufman, D-Del., and Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., released the following statement in advance of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) roundtable on short selling tomorrow.

“Tomorrow’s SEC roundtable is long awaited, but it is clear that the panel is stacked against the need for restrictions on naked short selling. In the recent financial decline, there was abusive short selling enabled by the repeal of the 70-year-old uptick rule and a lack of so-called pre-borrow or hard locate requirements.

“The recent bull market, however, has lulled us into a false sense of security. If we do not enact these proposals – the uptick rule and either a pre-borrow or hard locate requirement – the same people who drove down certain stocks in the past will just do it again.

“We need to focus on giving the SEC’s Enforcement Division the tools to end naked short selling once and for all.”

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