Megas World

[mastaflash]

“What happens if a long investor unknowingly sells his/her long shares which are only “security entitlements” BEFORE the FTD is cured?”


DeCosta:

Assume that an NSCC participating clearing firm has 10 million Acme shares in its NSCC participant “shares account”. Let’s also assume that it sends out monthly statements “implying” that it is “holding long” 30 million shares of Acme for its clients. It is thus “naked short” 20 million shares.

If the phone rings and a client wants to sell his Acme purchases by default he will be determined to be one of the lucky ones that did get delivery of that which he purchased. That’s the beauty of “anonymous pooling” to cover up frauds. If there were a “run on the bank” scenario in which the purchasers of all 30 million Acme shares at that broker wanted to sell their shares simultaneously it still wouldn’t matter.

Since 90% of people hold their shares in “street name” because it’s so “handy” that broker could always borrow some from across the street and repay the borrowing later. The “fraternity brothers” at the DTCC take very good care of each other. I’ll post a blurb from book #9 in a second re: the tricky nature of “security entitlements”.