Quick way to make money without having to do much.
Sell short.
Sledge.
Amplify holder's misery (because of the low share price you caused by selling down borrowed shares).
Repeat.
https://asic.gov.au/regulatory-resources/markets/short-selling/activist-short-selling-campaigns-in-australia/Activist short selling
Activist short selling involves a person taking a short position in a financial product and then publicly disseminating information (e.g. one or more reports) directly or through an agent to negatively impact the price of the product ('short report'). A short report may, for example, criticise an entity's finances, management, public disclosures or future prospects. A short report does not necessarily have to be in the form of a formal report. It could be, for example, a post on a social media platform, blog or online forum. The activist short seller expects the short report to cause the price of the financial product to fall, enabling them to realise a profit.
Activist short selling campaigns are not new. Over time, they have received more attention with online news and social media outlets providing instantaneous access to a broad audience. This can exacerbate the speed and depth of the market's response to a short report.
Most campaigns against Australian entities have been by overseas activist short sellers that caveat their reports as not intended for an Australian audience. In practice, online distribution and reporting of campaigns by Australian media mean the reports (or their key messages) are widely accessed by Australians.
Our research indicates that activist short selling campaigns tend to target entities with complex and opaque corporate structures and accounting practices, or poor disclosure. They also tend to target companies with lower market capitalisation. There is also a tendency to follow cyclical trends (e.g. to target entities and industries that are high growth/high risk or may be overvalued or have experienced rapid security price growth). They may also target sectors that are technically complex and/or easily misunderstood (e.g. medical research, technology and mining).
Market manipulation
A person must not take part in, or carry out (whether directly or indirectly and whether in Australia or elsewhere) one or more transactions that have or are likely to have the effect of creating or maintaining an artificial price for trading in financial products on a financial market operated in Australia: see section 1041A.
Fact check with the target entity
Authors of short reports should check their facts with the target entity to identify and address errors before the release of a short report. This may provide the market with greater certainty around the issues raised. It also reduces the risk of the market being misinformed and helps to mitigate the risk for the activist short seller of making false or misleading statements.
Monitor for short selling activity and report suspicious activity
Market participants should monitor for suspicious short selling activity. Under the market integrity rules, they must report suspicious activity to ASIC as soon as practicable. This means once they become aware of the activity, not after they start investigating the activity. Time is of the essence with activist short selling campaigns.
