US SEC charges 23 firms in short-sale crackdown; 22 settle

Twenty-two investment firms will collectively pay more than $14.4 million in sanctions to settle civil charges in connection with a broad crackdown by federal regulators into illegal short-selling practices, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said on Tuesday.

The SEC said it had charged 23 firms for violating a rule that prohibits firms from shorting a stock within a five-day window of a public offering, and then buying the same security through the offering.

Among the various 22 firms that are settling the SEC's charges include DE Shaw & Co, Hudson Bay Capital Management, and the Ontario Teachers' Pension Fund Plan. Only one firm, G-2 Trading LLC, is fighting the charges through litigation.