Short-Sellers Targeted By New York Stock Exchange

TheNew York Stock Exchangeis setting its sights on short-sellers,The New York Postreports. “This is an area where we have seen problems, and you can expect enforcement actions,”Susan Merrill, who heads oversight at the Big Board, said at a conference Monday. Top on the list, said Merrill, are short-sellers involved with the secondary offerings, a market that has been heating up this year.Robert Marchman,who heads the NYSE’s market-surveillance unit, suggested that short-sellers “might have artificially depressed prices” before some secondary offerings were issued. Marchman said his department, which has been working with theSecurities and Exchange Commissionon the matter, would be concentrating in particular on brokers that conduct trades for hedge funds.