Italy and Spain ban short selling after record sell-off
Reported today on City AM
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Italian and Spanish securities regulators have today implemented a ban on the short selling of a number of stocks following record losses yesterday.As a result, the Financial Conduct Authority has had to temporarily place a ban on short sales of those stocks on the FTSE.Read more: Coronavirus: FTSE 100 posts sharp rebound after worst day since 1987In Spain, the ban affects 69 stocks, including all liquid stocks that fell by more than 10 per cent on Thursday, as well as illiquid stocks that fell more than 20 per cent.In Italy, 85 stocks have been affected.Under European regulations, the FCA has had to stop investors bet on the continuing slide of those Italian and Spanish stocks.UniCredit SpA, Telecom Italia SpA, Banco Santander SA, Telefonica SA and Juventus Football Club, are among those affected.The City watchdog said: "Following the action taken by Comision Nacional del Mercado de Valores…the FCA is satisfied that it is necessary to take the action set out in this notice to assist CONSOB, taking into account: a) a similar price fall in the instruments on UK trading venues and b) the volume of trading in the UK."It comes after Italy's FTSE MIB plunged 17 per cent yesterday, and Spain's IBEX-35 fell 14 per cent, which were both record losses amid a global sell-off.Read more: FTSE 100 crashes 10.9 per cent in worst one-day fall since 1987The FTSE 100 also slumped to its worst day since 1987, after it plummeted 10 per cent.The pan-European Stoxx 600 index fell by 11.5 per cent as a result of a brutal session.The UK declined to comment on if it would consider a ban on short selling all UK stocks, although Germany admitted it was under consideration after its benchmark index plunged 12 per cent yesterday.
