Short selling involves borrowing a stock to sell it in the expectation the price will fall, then repurchasing the shares and pocketing the difference. Short interest in the U.S. market totaled $927 billion as of Thursday, according to analytics firm S3 Partners. The new rules require institutional investors to report their gross short positions to the SEC monthly and certain "net" short activity for individual dates on which trades settle. "Investment advisers will face more risk when selling short, which will harm investors, market participants, and market efficiency," said its CEO Bryan Corbett. SEC officials said the new rules, which the commission agreed upon in a 3-2 vote, support the agency's efforts to police the practice.

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Persons: Jim Bourg, Gary Gensler, Gensler, Stephen Hall, FINRA, Bryan Corbett, Douglas Gillison, Chris Prentice, Michelle Price, Chizu Nomiyama, Chris Reese Organizations: U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, REUTERS, GameStop, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Partners, Stephen Hall of Better, Justice Department, Thomson Locations: Washington, U.S