Page 1 of 2 It's never too late for Tony D'Aloisio to regulate.
IF AUSTRALIA'S top market regulator, Tony D'Aloisio, has dark circles under his eyes today it's probably not from early Christmas parties or insomnia over the recent market slide.
The head of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission was due to stay up past the witching hour last night to attend a telephone meeting of international sharemarket regulators who wanted to work out a joint response to "urgent regulatory issues" dealing with the global market meltdown.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission boss, Christopher Cox, had scheduled the meeting on Friday, with regulators from economies round the globe expected to dial in.
Australian companies worse for wear by short sellers took heart from the fact that the SEC put manipulative short-selling on the agenda. Cox said it was important to co-operate closely to prevent regulatory loopholes and to co-ordinate on trading rules in this turbulent market. Some executives had already lobbied Canberra and the market watchdog last week, but without immediate success.
While the wider market took a breather yesterday, consumer stocks such as Crown, Fairfax Media, Network Ten and JB Hi-Fi fell amid speculation about their earnings outlooks and debt.
Executives have argued that some of those stocks were unfairly exposed to short-selling because a ban on shorting financials is being upheld well into January, calling for equal conditions and safeguards such as the so-called uptick rule, which allows selling a stock short only after a price rise.
A spokeswoman for ASIC declined to say yesterday what D'Aloisio would bat for. But market sources said companies and long-term share investors should not get their hopes up too high, with the regulators likely to take a global approach rather than deal with national matters.
Then again, Citigroup has asked for more short-selling restrictions in the US as it struggles for survival.
