Proposed Amendments to Regulation SHO Relating to the Alternative Price Test

SIFMA provides comments to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on the proposed amendments to Regulation SHO (Alternative Price Test), Release No. 34-60509: File No. S7-08-09. SIFMA believes an alternative price test that would allow selling only at a price above the current national best bid (alternative uptick rule) as a permanent price test restriction or in conjunction with a circuit breaker. The Release notes that the alternative uptick rule would restrict short selling to a greater extent than the other price tests proposed by the SEC because it would not allow short sales to achieve immediate execution even in an advancing market. SIFMA believes there is not sufficient evidence that these goals would be promoted or achieved in any measurable sense through new short sale price test restrictions.