After reviewing the operation of its short selling ban in financial stocks, the UK’s Financial Services Authority has decided to leave the measures essentially unchanged until January.

When the FSA introduced its additional short selling measures on Sept.18 it committed to reviewing them after 30 days and also to publishing the results of a comprehensive review of short selling in January. The FSA reports that it has now conducted the 30-day review and, with one exception, has concluded that it should not make any changes to the measures.

The one change relates to the requirements for disclosing significant net short positions in UK financial sector stocks. The FSA says it accepts that it is not a proportionate requirement to require daily disclosures of short positions where there has been no change in a short position. It will be making amendments so that once disclosure of a short position has been made, additional disclosures will only be required when that short position changes.

The FSA will publish its consultation paper on short selling in January.

IE