On July 23, the Spanish regulator (CNMV) and the Italian regulator announced short selling bans with immediate effect. The Spanish ban applies to any transaction the effect of which is to initiate or increase a net short position in any stock admitted to trading on a Spanish regulated market for which the CNMV is the competent authority. The ban includes transactions in derivatives on such stocks and on indices of which such stocks are constituents. The Spanish ban will initially remain in force for three months, expiring on October 23.

The Italian ban, initially in force only until 6 p.m. Italian time, Friday, July 27, later extended to 6 p.m. on September 14, prohibits short selling, including covered short selling, of the securities of 29 named Italian financial institutions. It does not extend to derivatives or index transactions.

For more information on Italy, click here.
For more information on Spain, click here.