Further refinements to short selling arrangements

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has further refined the regulatory position on short selling and other market activity as a result of ongoing consultation with industry.

The regulator said it would, conditionally, not take any action for a breach of the short selling requirements in relation to persons who had placed portfolio securities into a securities lending program provided by an established securities lending business and who wished to sell those securities before they completed a recall of the securities from the program.

It said no action would be taken where the sale was a bona fide sales transaction from the portfolio and where: * 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 in for example a managed investment scheme, superannuation fund, or 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; and

* the sale is settled at the time required by the market rules (e.g, T + 3).