Full prohibition of short selling transactions in the context of COVID-19 pandemic
- 18 maart 2020
- Janson Nieuws
Having regard to the current emergency situation linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Belgian regulator ("FSMA") decided to prohibit short selling transactions with respect to companies listed on Euronext Brussels and Euronext Growth where the FSMA is the national competent authority for the most relevant market (MRM). The ban applies regardless of the place where the transaction is executed (OTC or trading venue) from 18 March 2020 to 17 April 2020.
It is clarified that "short selling" includes any transaction which creates, or relates to, a financial instrument and the effect or one of the effects of that transaction is to confer a financial advantage on the natural or legal person in the event of a decrease in the price or value of another financial instrument.
The prohibition will apply to index-related instruments only if the restricted shares represent more than 20% of the index weight.
This prohibition extends the ban that was already decided on 17 March 2020 for certain shares traded on Euronext Brussels.
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