Proposal to ban short selling long overdue. As of June 30 short selling for Labs 2,491,060.00 shares.
"In anticipation of a financing deal, a hedge fund will short a company’s shares, then buy into the deal to cover the short position, acquiring a block of newly issued shares at a discount to the market price.
The technique allows funds to earn a quick profit with relatively little risk and makes it easier for investment bankers to find lead buyers for speculative deals. Critics, however, allege the technique often pushes the boundaries of securities law, as investment bankers, company insiders and hedge funds work together to facilitate the short position.
“If this type of short selling is done, and it’s done intentionally with the knowledge of an unannounced transaction that they plan to purchase on, then there is an extremely good chance that it would be violating existing insider trading rules and market manipulation rules,” said Cindy Tripp, a former managing director at GMP Securities and member of the Ontario Capital Markets Modernization Taskforce, which is overseeing a review of the province’s securities laws.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-proposal-to-ban-short-selling-ahead-of-deals-to-shake-up-junior/ "In anticipation of a financing deal, a hedge fund will short a company’s shares, then buy into the deal to cover the short position, acquiring a block of newly issued shares at a discount to the market price.
The technique allows funds to earn a quick profit with relatively little risk and makes it easier for investment bankers to find lead buyers for speculative deals. Critics, however, allege the technique often pushes the boundaries of securities law, as investment bankers, company insiders and hedge funds work together to facilitate the short position.
“If this type of short selling is done, and it’s done intentionally with the knowledge of an unannounced transaction that they plan to purchase on, then there is an extremely good chance that it would be violating existing insider trading rules and market manipulation rules,” said Cindy Tripp, a former managing director at GMP Securities and member of the Ontario Capital Markets Modernization Taskforce, which is overseeing a review of the province’s securities laws.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-proposal-to-ban-short-selling-ahead-of-deals-to-shake-up-junior/