VIENNA (dpa-AFX) - Four European countries have announced they will impose bans on short-selling, according to broadcast reports. The measures will take place beginning with Friday's trading.
France, Belgium, Italy and Spain have imposed short-selling bans in the wake of market volatility in recent sessions. Short-selling is already banned in Greece and Turkey. A ban across Europe had been discussed, but some nations - including Britain - were against the idea.
'Some authorities have decided to impose or extend existing short-selling bans in their respective countries,' the European Securities and Markets Authority said in a statement on its Website. 'They have done so either to restrict the benefits that can be achieved from spreading false rumors or to achieve a regulatory level playing field, given the close inter-linkage between some EU markets.
'These measures have been aligned as far as possible in the absence of a common EU legal frame-work in the area of short-selling and given the very different national legal bases on which such measures can be taken' the statement added.
Details will be posted on the Websites for the individual regulators, the ESMA said.
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