NEWS

Scott Patterson of The Wall Street Journal reports (September 29, 2009) that the “Big Wall Street firms from Vanguard Group Inc. to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are lining up against new rules to restrict short-selling under consideration by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“In several letters filed last week with the SEC over the proposed restrictions, the firms raised objections to a number of proposed limits on short-selling, in which investors borrow a stock to sell it, often hoping to profit from a decline.

“ ‘We’ve always felt that short-sellers enhance liquidity and provide a positive impact on the marketplace,’ said Gus Sauter, chief investment officer at Vanguard. Curbs on their activity, he said, could crimp trading and hurt individual investors.”