SEC Extends Short-Sale Disclosure Rule

The Securities and Exchange Commission said hedge funds and other big investors will be required to disclose their short positions to the SEC until August 2009.

The SEC issued an order late Wednesday saying it was extending disclosure requirements issued under emergency authority until next August. The agency used emergency powers last month to require money managers with more than $100 million in assets to report their daily short positions on a weekly basis to the SEC and the public, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

Earlier this month, the SEC extended the emergency order, while saying the information wouldn't be released to the public. That order was set to expire this Friday, the Journal reports.

The SEC said the disclosure requirements give it more information about short sales, as it looks into whether investment managers are manipulating the market by pairing short sales with false rumors, the newspaper reports.

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