Oh dear : FSA bans short-selling

[sappatz]

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/16102460-85a...Fhome%2Feurope

[sasguru]

Oh the FSA suddenly gets some teeth, belatedly, after being neutered by Labour for the past few years

[TykeMerc]

About 5 years too late to be honest, but at least it's been done.

The ban should be applied to all companies, not just those in the financial sector, shorting is often carried out with malicious rumour mongering and it's a cynical attack.

[AtW]

FSA was not doing this stuff before because its main lobbyists - banks, were engaged in this stuff themselves and were making money, now the tables have turned and they are under threat so they got short selling banned pretty quickly - it seems to affect financial companies only rather than all short selling - it's okay to screw everyone else but not the banks, how odd eh?

[HairyArsedBloke]

It's just another 'something must be done' action by this evil corupt regime.

As noted in a comment on Guido's blog, the FSA found no indication of HBOS manipulation back in July.

[BrilloPad]

FSA was not doing this stuff before because its main lobbyists - banks, were engaged in this stuff themselves and were making money, now the tables have turned and they are under threat so they got short selling banned pretty quickly - it seems to affect financial companies only rather than all short selling - it's okay to screw everyone else but not the banks, how odd eh?

very good point. also, banks are the only companies not allowed to go bust.

[sasguru]

FSA was not doing this stuff before because its main lobbyists - banks, were engaged in this stuff themselves and were making money, now the tables have turned and they are under threat so they got short selling banned pretty quickly - it seems to affect financial companies only rather than all short selling - it's okay to screw everyone else but not the banks, how odd eh?

You haven't a clue so shut it. See my post above. Labour never allowed the FSA to have any real teeth. There are plenty of sensible people in the City who were unhappy about that.

[AtW]

You haven't a clue so shut it.

Check the article - new rules only apply to financial companies. If shorting is bad (and I think it is), it should be banned for all companies not just select few banks who are actually large players that short everybody else using hedgefunds, it's just some hedgefunds started shorting banks now so they arranged this for themselves.

[SandyDown]

OK FSA means: Financial Services Authority, its the body regulating financial organisation... so how on earth is it going to ban or attempt to regulate non-financial companies??!!!

[AtW]

OK FSA means: Financial Services Authority, its the body regulating financial organisation... so how on earth is it going to ban or attempt to regulate non-financial companies??!!!

FSA regulates stock exchange too doesn't it? Otherwise it would have no force to demand stop short selling in the first place - only (if it regulated banks only) demand that banks themselves won't do it, which they don't anyway - they use hedge funds as their proxies or some shady Ltds in offshores.