EnviroTechnologies International Inc. (ETII)

[evilpumperclown]

Could be a short squeeze coming... look what happens to market makers that get caught short

Oct 25 (Reuters) - In the largest penalty of its type,
Swiss bank UBS AG was fined $12 million by a
U.S. brokerage regulator over its "systemic" failure to
properly handle millions of short-sale orders.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority said violations
by the bank's UBS Securities LLC broker-dealer unit caused the
orders to be mismarked or filled without reasonable grounds to
believe the underlying securities could be located.
In short sales, investors sell securities they do not own,
hoping the prices will fall so they can repurchase the
securities later at the lower price, repay the lender and
pocket the difference as profit. Regulators fear that abuses
can distort markets, and accelerate declines in share prices.
FINRA said UBS's violations lasted from 2005 to 2010, and
that the bank likely processed "tens of millions" of short sale
orders for equities and exchange-traded funds improperly.
Many problems were not detected until FINRA's probe caused
UBS to review its systems, the brokerage regulator said.
"Broad, systemic failures is the best way to describe it,"
Brad Bennett, FINRA's chief of enforcement, said in an
interview. "The fine reflects the gaps in the system that we
found. We didn't identify any specific delivery failures, but
that could means the bank just got lucky."
FINRA said UBS has made changes to systems and procedures
that were designed to prevent a recurrence of the violations.
The bank did not admit wrongdoing in agreeing to settle, and
also accepted a censure.
UBS spokesman Christiaan Brakman said the bank was pleased
to settle, made a "substantial investment" to improve systems
and oversight, and has "remediated" all identified issues.
"NAKED" SHORT-SALE ABUSES FEARED
FINRA said UBS violated Regulation SHO, a rule imposed in
2005 by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to thwart
abusive "naked" short selling, and ensure that brokerages can
deliver shares on short-sale transactions they process.
Naked short sales occur when investors sell short without
first borrowing the underlying shares or making sure they can
be borrowed.
While the practice is not always illegal in the United
States, the SEC has taken steps to limit abuse, including
during the 2008 financial crisis when it restricted short sales
of some financial stocks.
In July 2009, the SEC adopted a rule requiring that "fails
to deliver" in all equity securities be promptly closed out.
"If there were failures to deliver, short selling would
have the ability to affect the market, especially in
hard-to-borrow, thinly traded stocks," Bennett said.
In the last two years, FINRA has fined Deutsche Bank AG $575,000, Milwaukee-based Robert W. Baird & Co
$900,000 and Boston-based National Financial Services Inc
$350,000 for Regulation SHO violations over their handling of
short-sale orders. None admitted wrongdoing.
Bennett said FINRA will bring more enforcement cases over
Regulation SHO and short sales. The independent regulator
oversees nearly 4,500 brokerages.
Can you say ouch?