This information sheet helps short sellers and systems developers to comply with and develop systems to assist with compliance with short selling reporting requirements. It covers the following topics:
ASIC external test and conformance test facilities
how to register as a short seller
release notes, relevant to all parties, outlining changes to the system
Regulatory Guide 196 Short selling
Regulatory Guide 196 Short selling (RG 196) contains an overview of the short selling provisions of the Corporations Act 2001 (Corporations Act) and the Corporations Regulations 2001 (Corporations Regulations).
How to submit short position reports
A short seller may lodge their own short position reports or may authorise a submitting entity to lodge short position reports on their behalf.
ASIC will receive all short position reports via Financial Information eXchange (FIX) protocol ‘position report’ messages.
Short sellers and entities submitting on behalf of short sellers will rely on their information technology team or an external system provider to develop a FIX-compliant reporting solution to send FIX position report messages to ASIC.
Developers of reporting solutions may need to develop or purchase a FIX engine.
A new reporting solution must complete the ASIC conformance process before the solution will be granted access to the pilot testing and/or production environment. See ‘ASIC external test and conformance test facilities’ below.
If you are considering obtaining a reporting solution from an independent provider, you must ensure that their proposed reporting solution has completed and satisfies the ASIC conformance process.The following companies have advised ASIC that they may be able to offer such reporting solutions:
Depending on your reporting solution, you may also need to establish a network connection with ASIC. The following companies have advised ASIC that they may be able to offer such network connectivity:
Disclaimer: The above list of service providers, and any statements by ASIC in regard to them, should not be taken as ASIC endorsing or recommending any particular reporting solution provider, any connectivity provider or the services they offer. You should make you own enquiries as to the adequacy of their services before using them.
Note: The above list of service providers may not be the only companies that can provide these services. Other companies that can provide these services and wish to be added to our provider lists should contact ASIC at shortpositionreporting@asic.gov.au
Publication of short position reports
The total of short positions for financial products on a given reporting day will be published on the ASIC website four days after the reporting day (T+4). These reports will not contain short seller details.
The ASIC document Short selling: Short position reporting—FIX Rules of Engagement (FIX Rules of Engagement) provides the ASIC FIX specifications for information technology system developers. It contains information for developers of reporting solutions using either direct (point-to-point) FIX connections or indirect (hub and spoke) FIX connections. It will not be of direct interest to short sellers using a submitting entity or using a reporting solution provided by a third party system developer to send short position reports.
Reporting solution developers can test their FIX interfaces on a permanent dedicated ASIC test facility. Service levels for the test facility may vary from time to time. ASIC will communicate directly with registered test participants if service levels are reduced.
Follow these directions to access the test facility:
Contact your network provider to arrange connectivity to ASIC. Your network provider will provide the ASIC details required to configure your FIX engine.
Only conforming FIX interfaces will be granted access to the ASIC production environment. When FIX interface testing is complete, reporting solution developers requiring access to the ASIC production environment should email shortpositionreporting@asic.gov.au to indicate their interface is ready for the conformance test process.
For conformance testing, ASIC will provide you with a test script and you will be notified of a time slot in which to perform your testing. Conformance testing covers the following tests:
FIX session: A FIX client session will be established and you will submit FIX messages to test session level rules such as connectivity, authentication and assurance are met.
FIX interface: FIX messages are validated to ensure they meet the PositionReport rules outlined in the FIX Rules of Engagement.
Upon successful completion of the conformance process, an email will be sent to you and your network provider with details for connecting to the production environment.
How to register as a short seller
If an Australian short seller does not have an Australian Company Number (ACN) or Australian Registered Body Number (ARBN), or an overseas short seller does not have a SWIFT Bank Identifier Code (BIC), they must get a unique identifier before they can submit short position reports.
This process collects some basic contact details and will take less than five minutes to complete. To get your unique identifier go to short seller registration.
The identifier is used for short position reporting and is not used for any other purpose.
FIX developers should use this ASIC-allocated identifier as PartyID in the FIX message if a short seller does not have an ACN, ARBN or BIC.
Please note that this information sheet is a summary giving you basic information about a particular topic. It does not cover the whole of the relevant law regarding that topic, and it is not a substitute for professional advice. Omission of any matter on this information sheet will not relieve a company or its officers from any penalty incurred by failing to comply with the statutory obligations of the Corporations Act.
You should also note that because this information sheet avoids legal language wherever possible, it might include some generalisations about the application of the law. Some provisions of the law referred to have exceptions or important qualifications. In most cases your particular circumstances must be taken into account when determining how the law applies to you.
This is Information Sheet 98 (INFO 98). Information sheets provide concise guidance on a specific process or compliance issue or an overview of detailed guidance.
View table of short position reports