Frequently Requested FOIA Document:
Fails-to-Deliver Data

What You Should Know About the Data

This text file contains the date, CUSIP numbers, ticker symbols, issuer name, price, and total number of fails-to-deliver (i.e., the balance level outstanding) recorded in the National Securities Clearing Corporation’s (“NSCC”) Continuous Net Settlement (CNS) system aggregated over all NSCC members when that security has a balance of total fails-to-deliver of at least 10,000 shares as of a particular settlement date. The data includes fails-to-deliver in equity securities.

The values of total fails-to-deliver shares represent the aggregate net balance of shares that failed to be delivered as of a particular settlement date if the balance is 10,000 shares or more. If the aggregate net balance of shares that failed to be delivered is less than 10,000 as of a particular settlement date, then no record will be present in the file for that date even if there are fails in that security. Fails to deliver on a given day are a cumulative number of all fails outstanding until that day, plus new fails that occur that day, less fails that settle that day.  The figure is not a daily amount of fails, but a combined figure that includes both new fails on the reporting day as well as existing fails. In other words, these numbers reflect aggregate fails as of a specific point in time, and may have little or no relationship to yesterday’s aggregate fails. Thus, it is important to note that the age of fails cannot be determined by looking at these numbers. In addition, the underlying source(s) of the fails-to-deliver shares is not necessarily the same as the underlying source(s) of the fails-to-deliver shares reported the day prior or the day after.

While the total fails-to-deliver shares represent the balance on a given day, the files contain each settlement date over a calendar month. The first month available is August 2007. The monthly files are archived in a zipped file for each calendar quarter. The most recent data for a quarter will be available at least two months after the last settlement date of the quarter. We cannot guarantee that the data will be posted by a particular date. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the data.

The price field includes the closing price of the security on the previous day as long as the price is available and is greater than one penny. When the price is not available or is less than a penny, the field is filled with a “.”. Even when prices are included in the data, we cannot guarantee that this price matches closing prices available from other sources.

Please note that fails-to-deliver can occur for a number of reasons on both long and short sales. Therefore, fails-to-deliver are not necessarily the result of short selling, and are not evidence of abusive short selling or “naked” short selling. For more information on short selling and fails-to-deliver, see http://www.sec.gov/spotlight/keyregshoissues.htm, http://www.sec.gov/divisions/marketreg/mrfaqregsho1204.htm, and http://www.sec.gov/rules/final/34-50103.htm.

What You Should Know About the Data File

The information in this file is raw data — data that are meant to be used as input to another program. The data items are provided as a "pipe delimited" text file. Although the file can be viewed in any program that accepts ASCII text (for example, a word processor), the data fields are best viewed when imported into a program that accepts delimited data, such as a spreadsheet or a statistical application. The record layout and maximum field sizes are shown below for those who want to process the data into another form.

For technical questions regarding the website, send an e-mail message to webmaster@sec.gov. For additional information about the data, call the SEC's Office of Freedom of Information and Privacy Act Operations at (202) 551-7900.

Current Data

Download the Current Fails-to-Deliver Data
Reports for the fourth quarter 2008
(ZIP archive size: 2.2 MB; decompressed size: approx. 5.4 MB)

Archive Data

http://www.sec.gov/foia/docs/failsdata.htm