Securities lending

Securities lending supplies the borrowed stock that short selling requires, in exchange for a fee and collateral. Borrow cost is the main economic constraint on shorting and the main pressure point in a squeeze.

instruments and markets · updated 2026-09-08

Where does securities lending come up?

This term is used in the following manipulation techniques, each explained in full on its own page.

• Engineered short squeeze — An engineered short squeeze is deliberately acquiring the tradable supply of a security and withdrawing it from the lending market, so that short sellers who must cover cannot find stock and are forced to buy at the engineer's price.

Enforcement actions involving these techniques

See also

• Short selling — Short selling is selling borrowed securities in the expectation of buying them back cheaper. It is lawful, it improves price disco…
• Short squeeze — A short squeeze is a sharp price rise driven by short sellers buying to close positions, which pushes the price higher and forces …

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