Europe: regulatory action on short selling - statement from the ESMA

The European Securities and Markets Authority has published a statement with regard to recent discussions between Member State authorities concerning the short-selling of shares in credit institutions: see here (pdf). The statement notes that authorities in Belgium, France, Italy and Spain have imposed or extended existing short-selling bans (a ban was introduced in Greece earlier this month) and that these measures have been aligned in the absence of a common EU legal framework governing short-selling. In the UK, it has been reported that the Financial Services Authority has said that it has no plans to introduce a ban: see here.