Pursuant to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission request, FINRA makes short sale volume data (Daily Short Sale Volume Files) publicly available for trades in non-exchange-listed securities (or OTC equity securities) reported to the OTC Reporting Facility (ORF).
The Daily Short Sale Volume Files provide aggregated volume by security for all short sale trades executed and reported to the ORF during normal market hours. The Daily Short Sale Volume Files include only trades reported to the ORF for public dissemination purposes (i.e., media-reported trades).
As discussed more fully in Information Notice 5/10/19, the following key points about the Short Sale Volume Files may help avoid misperceptions regarding the data.
- The Short Sale Volume Files exclude any trading activity that is not publicly disseminated. As a result, some offsetting buying activity related to reported short selling would not be reflected in the Short Sale Volume Files and may result in the appearance of a higher concentration of short sale volume to total volume.
- The Short Sale Volume Files do not—and are not intended to—equate to bi-monthly reported short interest position information. The short interest data reflects aggregate short positions held by market participants at a specific moment in time on two discrete days each month, while the Short Sale Volume File reflects the aggregate volume of trades executed and reported as short sales on each trade date.