Overstock.com Appears on ‘13-day’ Regulation SHO Threshold List for 800 Trading Days
Posted on May 8, 2008
Filed Under Internet, eCommerce
SALT LAKE CITY, May 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Overstock.com, Inc.
(Nasdaq: OSTK) announces that yesterday marked the 800th trading day that
the company has appeared on the Regulation SHO threshold list (see
http://www.nasdaqtrader.com/aspx/regsho.aspx).
Regulation SHO requires the U.S. stock exchanges to publish daily a
list of companies whose stock had failures-to-deliver above a certain
threshold. It also requires mandatory close-outs for open
failures-to-deliver in threshold securities persisting for more than 13
days, with the aim that no security would appear on the threshold for any
extended period. In fact, when it passed Regulation SHO, the Securities and
Exchange Commission countered criticisms that the regulation had no teeth
by claiming that companies would not remain on the list for more than 13
days.
Overstock.com chairman and chief executive officer Patrick Byrne
commented, “While this may seem paradoxical, the facts can be reconciled.
One need only understand that our capital markets have been hijacked: our
settlement system no longer settles, our New York financial media no longer
investigates, and our regulators no longer regulate. For further
explanation, see the fine example of investigative journalism that appeared
this week on DeepCapture.com.”
SEC Chairman Christopher Cox noted at a March 4, 2008 open hearing that
when companies are “chronically listed on Reg SHO’s Threshold Security List
for months and years at a time [there] is ample evidence that there is also
fraud in the market that needs to be arrested.” Chairman Cox continued,
“Abusive naked short selling saps the confidence of investors and issuers
who depend upon our markets to value securities in a fair, efficient, and
orderly way.”
Despite Regulation SHO’s requirement that a clearing broker-dealer must
close-out failures-to-deliver in a threshold security that have persisted
for 13 consecutive days and despite Chairman Cox’s observations,
Overstock.com has now been on the Regulation SHO threshold list for 800
trading days. “Will the SEC ever enforce the close-out provisions of
Regulation SHO or prosecute what Chairman Cox has called ‘market
manipulation that is clearly violative of the federal securities laws’?”
asks Overstock.com chairman and chief executive officer Patrick Byrne.
“After Overstock.com’s more than three-year run on the Regulation SHO
threshold list, I have my doubts. Yesterday’s milestone gives new meaning
to our customer service number: 1-800-THE BIG O.”
“Eight hundred trading days is an unacceptably long time for any
company to be on the Regulation SHO threshold list,” said Jonathan Johnson,
Overstock.com’s senior vice president legal. “The SEC could easily remedy
the situation by acting on its proposed rule to eliminate the options
market maker exception and by requiring short-sellers to locate and borrow
shares before selling them - rather than merely have a belief that they
will be able to locate them at some point in the future. Overstock.com has
been on the Regulation SHO threshold list nearly the entire time the list
has been in existence. Clearly, merely publishing the threshold list,
without active and meaningful enforcement, is not an effective deterrent
against manipulative naked short selling.”
Many companies, besides Overstock.com, continue to appear on the
Regulation SHO threshold list for extended periods of time and, despite
constant criticism from Members of Congress, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce,
public companies, informed market experts and legions of investors, the SEC
has been slow to adopt meaningful Regulation SHO reform.
Overstock.com renews its calls for the SEC to eliminate quickly
Regulation SHO’s options market maker exception, to require short-sellers
to locate and borrow shares before selling them, and to require the full
and prompt disclosure of the aggregate failures-to-deliver for every
company listed on the Regulation SHO threshold list. In addition,
Overstock.com calls for the SEC to enforce the close-out requirements of
Regulation SHO so that no failure-to-deliver ever persists for more than 13
days.
About Overstock.com
Overstock.com, Inc. is an online retailer offering brand-name
merchandise at discount prices. The company offers its customers an
opportunity to shop for bargains conveniently, while offering its suppliers
an alternative inventory distribution channel. Overstock.com, headquartered
in Salt Lake City, is a publicly traded company listed on the NASDAQ Global
Market System and can be found online at http://www.overstock.com.
Overstock.com(R) is a registered trademark of Overstock.com, Inc. All
other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within
the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements
include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the extent of the
hijacking of the financial markets, whether the SEC will enforce the
close-out provisions of Regulation SHO, and the effectiveness of the
proposed remedies for abusive naked short selling. Our Form 10-K for the
year ended December 31, 2007, our subsequent quarterly reports on Form
10-Q, or any amendments thereto, and our other subsequent filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission identify important factors that could
cause our actual results to differ materially from those contained in our
projections, estimates or forward-looking statements.
SOURCE Overstock.com, Inc.
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