The U.S. SEC has once again postponed the implementation deadline for the controversial short-selling disclosure rule

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has postponed the deadline for the highly anticipated short-selling and related securities lending disclosure rules for the second time. According to the SEC's announcement, the final deadline for large investment management firms (including hedge funds) to comply with short-selling reporting requirements has been extended to January 2, 2028, while the disclosure obligations for securities lending transactions have been pushed back to September 28, 2028.

The SEC stated, "The Commission believes that these temporary exemptions are in the public interest and consistent with the goal of protecting investors." In October 2023, the SEC introduced new rules requiring eligible asset management firms to report short positions data on a monthly basis, while pension funds, banks, and institutional investors must submit reports the day after lending out their held stocks.

In August, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the SEC failed to adequately assess the economic impact when formulating the rules and ordered the agency to re-evaluate. The SEC's only Democratic commissioner, Lee, stated that we are using the compliance date extension as a pretext to cover up a new trend: continuously distorting the rules until they become ineffective, which is eroding the foundation of the rule of law. (Jinshi)