SEC Grants Temporary Exemption From Complying With Final Rule on Short Selling

The SEC has released an order that grants a temporary exemption from complying with the requirements in Exchange Act Rule 13f-2 and the related Form SHO, which were added as part of the SEC’s October 13, 2023, final rule on short selling. The final rule requires “institutional investment managers that meet or exceed certain thresholds to report on Form SHO specified short position data and short activity data for equity securities.”

The final rule became effective on January 2, 2024, and the original compliance date was January 2, 2025, with a due date of February 14, 2025, for initial Form SHO filings. Under the temporary exemption, the new due date for such filings will be February 17, 2026. The purpose of the extension is to give industry participants (e.g., institutional investment managers) more time to “address operational issues relating to the implementation of Form SHO reporting.”

For more information, see the press release on the SEC’s Web site.