NEWS
Germany Drops Ban on Short Selling Financial Stocks, France Extends Ban
Reuters reports on February 1 that Germany’s financial watchdog (Bafin) dropped a partial ban on the short-selling of financial stocks. “The situation on financial markets has improved so much over the last months that a further extension of the emergency measure, which Bafin enacted at the height of the crisis, was no longer needed.” The regulator said. Bafin had extended the ban three times since it was introduced in September 2008. Meanwhile France’s regulator (Autorité des Marchés Financiers) announced on January 27 that it is extending its bank on short selling of some French companies. These include: Axa, BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole, Dexia, and Sociétée Générale. Those bans first took effect in September 2008.
