Look at the last three paragraphs. I also have the transcripts of the whole testimony. Too big. However, pay attention. Bennett, who obviously was bought to the table by Byrne, is selecting three stocks. One of them is OSTK. Something is brewing. I'm going to pick some parts, and put them in another post, so interested folks can see it.
=DJ SEC Chmn Sees 'Some Action' To Revisit Mutual Fund Rule-3
Several lawmakers chided SEC Chairman Cox for allowing the New York Stock
Exchange to modify its listing standards, allowing Fannie Mae (FNM) to continue
trading on the Big Board even though the federal mortgage giant has not filed
financial results since mid-2004.
Cox defended the decision, saying Fannie Mae's situation is unique, and the
leeway granted to it won't be a model for other firms grappling with a massive
restatement of previously issued financial results. Fannie's promise to restate
results and comply with the NYSE listing standards is being watched "very, very
carefully," and now seems "within reach," Cox told Senate lawmakers.
The NYSE's new role as a publicly traded company through its parent NYSE Group
Inc. (NYX) means "the ground is changing," and that regulators must be poised
for new issues, including cross-border stock-exchange mergers, Cox said.
Cox told lawmakers he figures such deals are "inevitable," and is continuing
to meet with regulators, including the U.K. Financial Services Authority, to
hash through the issues that such ventures raise, including whether the current
system of national regulation can accommodate oversight of exchanges operating
in more than one country.
Meetings with U.S. bank regulators to address SEC regulation of bank brokers
are continuing as well, Cox added. The SEC has struggled to adopt rules in this
area, as mandated by the 1999 Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, and Cox said he thinks
it's high time it gets the job done.
Regarding hedge funds, Cox said the number of hedge fund advisors now
registered with the SEC has roughly doubled thanks to a rule adopted during
Donaldson's tenure that took effect Feb. 1. Cox said the SEC is training its
examiners to handle inspections of these advisory firms and expects to glean
more information on the often murky business of hedge funds, which are lightly
regulated vehicles for wealthy investors.
SEC inspectors also are looking closely at potential problems in the area of
short selling and abusive "naked" short selling, Cox said in response to
questions from Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah. He said inspectors have looked at 45
firms, including 19 clearing firms, thus far, and that he "will recommend
changes to our rules," if the findings show changes are warranted.
Short sellers sell borrowed shares in hopes of replacing them at lower cost
later, profiting from a decline in the stock's price. "Naked" short sellers do
not borrow shares, and Bennett said many small companies in Utah tell him they
have been crushed by abusive naked short selling.
Regulation SHO, adopted by the SEC in 2004, sought to crack down on such
abuses, and Cox told lawmakers the SEC will revisit it if it determines there
are lingering problems that haven't been corrected.
-By Judith Burns, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6692;
judith.burns@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
04-25-06 1431ET
Copyright (c) 2006 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.