Italy, Spain, France and Belgium, with an action coordinated by the European Market Supervisory Authority (ESMA), have decided, given the extraordinary market conditions, to ban short selling for 15 days.
Italy – Consob decided, in a meeting prior to the opening of the markets, that for 15 days it will be prohibited "to take net short positions or increase existing net short positions, even intraday, in relation to the capital of issuers in the financial sector". What pushed Consob towards this measure was "the extraordinary nature of the market conditions observed in the sessions of August 2011, characterized by a significant increase in volatility".
The ban on short selling specifically concerns 29 companies: Azimut Holding, Banca Carige, Banca Finnat, Banca Generali, Banca Ifis, Banca Intermobiliare, Mps, Banca Popolare Emilia Romagna, Banca Popolare Etruria e Lazio, Banca Popolare Milano, Banca Popolare Sondrio , Banca Profilo, Banco di Desio e Brianza, Banco di Sardegna, Banco Popolare, Cattolica Assicurazioni, Credito Artigiano, Credito Emiliano, Credito Valtellinese, Fondiaria-Sai, Generali, Intesa Sanpaolo, Mediobanca, Mediolanum, Milano Assicurazioni, Ubi Banca, Unicredit, Unipol and Vittoria Assicurazioni.
France – The President of the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (Amf) has already announced that from today for 15 days it will be "prohibited to create or expand net short positions, even intraday, in ordinary shares or securities giving access to the capital of the following credit institutions and insurance companies: Aprile Group, Axa, Bnp Paribas, CicC, Cnp, Assurances, Credit Agricole, Euler Hermes, Natixis, Parigi Re', Scor, Société Générale”. Therefore, transactions in banking and insurance securities are mainly kept under control.
Spain – The Cnmv, the Spanish Consob, immediately wanted to take the necessary precautions, imposing a ban on the short selling of financial securities, above all to protect the shares of Banca Cicica, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, Banco de Sabadell, Banco de Valencia, Banco Espanol de Credito, also for a period of 15 days from today, but which can be extended. A note reads that "the provisional ban applies to any transaction in shares or indices, transactions which involve the creation or increase of short positions in shares of Spanish companies in the financial sector" including cash transactions, derivatives on Over the counter (OTC) trades or derivatives.
