September 28, 2005
To whom it may concern,
This is in reference to: SEC File No. 4-500.
Request for Rulemaking Regarding Member Records of "Short" Positions and Reporting and Public Dissemination of Aggregate Positions by Security.
There is a crisis facing the OTC market today in the lack of short sale position reporting and disclosure for OTC issues.
This lack of transparency regarding short selling in the OTC market allows fraudulent acts to go undiscovered and manipulative short sellers to hide. Small issuers traded on the Pink Sheets and the OTCBB deserve the same transparency and regulatory oversight of short selling as those listed on Exchanges or NASDAQ.
As a shareholder in a number of OTC and PINK Sheet companies, I have been (and continue to be) a victim of this unfair practice.
I believe that regulators should consider it their DUTY to address and fix this problem. I believe that the SEC should consider it their immediate responsibility to cause the amendment of NASD Rule 3360 and require NASD broker dealers to maintain a record of total "short" positions in all customer and proprietary firm accounts in all publicly traded equity securities as well as report this information to the NASD for public dissemination of the short positions by security.
The SEC's action is urgently needed to prevent fraudulent acts, expose market manipulation, promote fair principles of trade and protect investors.
Put another way, this action is necessary in order to discontinue criminal activity under the noses of the SEC, an agency who's very mandate is to regulate against such activities.
Respectfully,
Edmund Jagacki