COVID-19: Temporary bans on short selling in the EU come to an end

Those national regulators in the EU which had put in place temporary restrictions on any short selling of securities admitted to trading on regulated markets in their jurisdictions have all confirmed that the prohibitions will not be extended. However, firms should be aware that ESMA’s temporary lower net short reporting threshold will remain in force until 16 June.

National regulators – end of temporary bans on short selling

The regulators in France, Belgium, Spain, Austria and Greece have confirmed that the bans on short selling will not be extended and will expire at 11.59 pm on 18 May. The Italian regulator has also confirmed it will end the prohibition one month earlier than its original 18 June deadline at 11.59pm 18 May (in line with the other jurisdictions).

The below summary table sets out the details of each jurisdiction’s prohibition.

ESMA – Lower net short reporting threshold still in place

While local regulators now plan to lift the bans on short selling, ESMA has confirmed that its decision to lower the threshold at which persons who hold net short positions in companies whose shares are admitted to trading on an EU regulated market must report to national regulators to 0.1% of the issued share capital (down from 0.2%) will remain in place until 16 June.

More information about the measures put in place can be found at our previous blogpost available here.