Consob: Short selling ban lifted on sales of "covered" bank and insurance securities

17 September 2012

On 14th September, the ban expired on short selling - even if "covered" by debenture loans - of bank and insurance securities, adopted on 23 July 2012 and extended on 27 July 2012.

The other measures adopted at the time in relation to shares listed on Italian regulated markets remain in any case in force for an unspecified period of time. These measures were introduced into the Italian system ahead of time and implement some of the restrictive measures contained in EU Regulation no 236/2012 regarding short sales and some aspects of credit default swaps that will come into force on 1 November. These measures include:

• the disclosure obligation to Consob of significant short positions (equal to or above 0.2 per cent of the share capital; resolution no 17862 of 10 July 2011);
• the prohibition of making "nude" short sales, i.e. those not backed by the availability of the securities at the time of order, regardless of the place of trading (resolution no 17993 of 11 November 2011).

Consob will continue systematically to monitor the regular satisfaction of obligations to deliver shares during settlement.

Press release

© Consob - Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa