The rules have changed and as part of those rules comes transparency. The list now shows you transparency that can be analyzed.
I am not sure what the ‘months and months’ period you are referring to but I do know that fails did occur at a time when the company was dumping paper and based on the way the numbers went, you could see how the clearing was taking place. Remember, the reported FTD’s on a given day are for new and aged fails under any type of circumstance. The 13 days does not apply to all fails, it only applies to the fails originated 13-trade days prior.
When paper hits the street, it is sold as if it were an electronic share but the settlement takes longer because the paper has to go thru the TA to be broken up and delivered to Cede and Co. This takes more time and results in settlement delays.
As for not being enforced, I believe in many cases they are. The raiding of a stock with massive fails that last months/years is over. Any type effort like that will now has to take place in a much shorter window to go undetected. FTD’s over 13 days are automatically flagged to regulators and their enforcement logs show you the results.
Is it a perfect world - no. Is it better than it was in 2000 relative to these issues - yes.
