You think that was planned by Paulson and gang?
I think Paulson does not get to that level of details. His level is to pick and choose winners and losers.
The level that separates ‘small’ from ‘big’ and insulates ‘big’ inside players is at the SEC. The SEC organization as I understand it is in many respects a labyrinth of small manons overseen by persons with a revolving door to Wall St. firms. So there is an influence that tilts to those with more gold so to speak.
And we know the ‘Golden Rule’ among the greedy. ‘Those with the Gold make the rules’.
So to answer your question, if the ‘gang’ means the underlings that do their master’s (Wall St. influence) bidding, then yes the gang likely did it to put the small guys under the microscope. Because now those small guys and their positions will be known.
It’s like sitting at a card table and having all those that ***can’t meet the call*** having to fold or show their hand.
I can’t see why the SEC did not require everyone to show their positions, including the big players. But it follows their organizational culture. The markets want to make the big dogs feel special. History of SEC regulation development shows they are complicit. You need only read about SEC investigator Gary Aguirre to understand this is not conspiracy drivel.