New York, April 19, 2024 (AFP)
Trump Media and Technology Group asked the Nasdaq exchange to crack down on alleged "naked" short selling of shares by large speculators, according to a securities filing posted Friday.
Shares of the former president's social media company plunged more than 70 percent between its market debut on March 26 and April 16 before recovering somewhat in the last three sessions.
On Tuesday, the company released a question and answer for shareholders that included advice on how to guard against "short selling" -- a bet that shares will fall.
In short selling, an investor borrows a stock, sells it and then buys the stock back at a lower price to return it to the lender, pocketing the difference.
TMTG urged shareholders to "contact your brokerage to place restrictions on the lending of your shares to short sellers."
In the letter to Nasdaq released Friday, TMTG Chief Executive Devin Nunes, a former Republican congressman, urged the exchange to take steps to "foster transparency and compliance" with US securities rules that bar "naked short selling" in which investors sell shares they do not possess.
Nunes said TMTG had been impacted by "potential market manipulation," pointing to four firms that were responsible for more than 60 percent of shares traded, including hedge funds Citadel Securities and Jane Street Capital.
Naked short-selling "is generally illegal" and "particularly troubling given that 'naked' short selling often entails sophisticated market participants profiting at the expense of retail investors," Nunes said.
A Nasdaq spokesperson said the exchange backed regulatory efforts by the US Securities and Exchange Commission to address naked short selling.
"Nasdaq is committed to the principles of liquidity, transparency and integrity in all our markets. We have long been an advocate of transparency in short selling and have been an active supporter of the SEC's rules and enforcement efforts designed to monitor and prohibit naked short selling," the Nasdaq spokesperson said.
Citadel Securities issued a statement that pulled no punches.
"Devin Nunes is the proverbial loser who tries to blame 'naked' short selling for his falling stock price," Citadel said.
"Nunes is exactly the type of person Donald Trump would have fired on 'The Apprentice.' If he worked for Citadel Securities, we would fire him, as ability and integrity are at the center of everything we do."

Sumber : AFP