Short Sale Reporting Study Required by Dodd-Frank Act Section 417(a)(2)

The Securities and Exchange Commission ("Commission'), on behalf of its Division of Risk, Strategy, and Financial Innovation ("Division'), is requesting public comment with regard to studies required by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of the feasibility, benefits, and costs of requiring reporting in real time, either publicly or, in the alternative, only to the Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ("FINRA'), of short sale positions of publicly listed securities, and of conducting a voluntary pilot program in which public companies would agree to have all trades of their shares marked "long,' "short,' "market maker short,' "buy,' or "buy-to-cover,' and reported as such in real time through the Consolidated Tape.