Today, short selling of securities is prohibited on the stock exchange Intesa Sanpaolo, Mediolanum, Banco Popolare e Banca Carige. The stop does not come only from the Italian supervisory authority: in addition to Consob, the British Financial Services Authority (FSA) has also said no to short selling the shares of the four banks.
The Commission specified that the ban concerns short sales "assisted by the availability of securities" and adds to the one already in force since last November for all shares on naked short sales.
The measure aims to reduce volatility on the stock markets. In these days, operators aim to speculate above all on the securities of Italian banks, full of government bonds.
The focus has returned to lenders since the Btp-Bund spread has risen again (this morning it is still above 340 basis points) due to the political uncertainty caused by the last elections. The polls did not deliver an absolute majority in the Senate to any coalition, effectively making Parliament ungovernable.
