Securities and Exchange Commission 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Securities and Exchange Commission (``Commission'' or ``SEC'') is proposing to amend the short sale price test under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (``Exchange Act''). The proposed amendments are intended to provide a more consistent regulatory environment for short selling by removing restrictions on the execution prices of short sales (``price tests'' or ``price test restrictions''), as well as prohibiting any self-regulatory organization (``SRO'') from having a price test. In addition, the Commission is proposing to amend Regulation SHO to remove the requirement that a broker-dealer mark a sell order of an equity security as ``short exempt,'' if the seller is relying on an exception from a price test.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (``Commission'') is adopting amendments to the rules and forms under Section 17A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (``Act'') to require that the forms filed with respect to transfer agent registration, annual reporting, and withdrawal from registration be filed with the Commission electronically. The forms will be filed on the Commission's EDGAR database in XML format and will be accessible to Commission staff and the public for search and retrieval. The amendments will improve the Commission's ability to utilize the information reported on the forms in performing its oversight function of transfer agent operations and to publicly disseminate the information on the forms.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (``Commission'') is amending its rules to delegate authority to the Chief Administrative Law Judge to issue orders to discontinue administrative proceedings as to a particular respondent who has died or cannot be found, or because of a mistake in the identity of a respondent named in the order for proceedings. The delegation is intended to conserve Commission resources, as well as expedite disposition of administrative proceedings.

The Commission is publishing for comment proposed amendments to a rule under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (``Exchange Act'') relating to municipal securities disclosure which would delete references to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (``MSRB'') as a recipient of material event notices filed by or on behalf of issuers of municipal securities or other obligated persons.