Press Release: Short selling: Commission adopts delegated act detailing rules on the ban on uncovered sovereign credit default swaps and short sales of shares and sovereign debt

The European Commission on 5 July 2012 adopted a Delegated Act which sets out important technical rules needed to ensure the uniform application and enforcement of the Short Selling Regulation. In particular, the delegated act specifies the cases in which sovereign credit default swaps are considered covered, and therefore not banned in accordance with the Regulation.

Other issues addressed in the Act include technical rules relating to the reporting of short positions in shares and sovereign debt, and the thresholds which can trigger a short term suspension of short selling in illiquid shares and other financial instruments. A related regulatory technical standard on short selling was also adopted by the Commission, based on a draft submitted by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA).

European Commission: MEMO/12/523: Commission Delegated Regulation on Short Selling and Credit Default Swaps - Frequently asked questions http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/12/523&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

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