SEC extends short selling ban

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has extended its ban on the short selling of financial stocks to October 17, in order to give the US Congress time to vote through measures aimed at stabilising the financial markets.

The SEC announced its temporary ban on the short selling of financial stocks on September 19, following a similar move by the UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) the day before. The SEC’s rules had been due to expire on 11.59pm on October 2. However, the regulator extended the ban “to allow for completion of work on the anticipated passage of legislation” to stabilise the credit markets and the financial system.

The US House of Representatives rejected a $700 billion rescue fund proposed by the US Treasury on September 29 – a shock decision that sent equity markets tumbling. A revised version was approved by the Senate on October 1, and the plan is expected to return to the House for a new vote as early as tonight. The SEC said the ban would expire “on the third business day after the enactment of the legislation, but in any case no later than 11.59pm on October 17”.

Dealers report the short selling bans have already affected equity derivatives business, with long/short and convertible arbitrage hedge funds particularly hard hit. Banks have also modified the array of structured products being offered to clients.

In the UK, traders were prohibited from actively creating or increasing net short positions in publicly-quoted financial companies from midnight on September 18 until January 16. The rules cover any instrument that provides a net economic exposure to a financial company, including contracts for difference, futures and options. The ban does not apply if the trade was entered into before September 19.

The regulations do not apply to market makers, defined as those firms dealing as a principal in equities, options or derivatives to: fulfil client orders, respond to client requests to trade or to hedge positions arising from those trades, or provide liquidity to the market on both bid and offer sides in comparable size. The exemption, though, does not extend to bank proprietary trading desks.

While the exemption means dealers will be able to delta-hedge the exposures arising from their equity derivatives business, the rules will have an impact on the structured products offered to customers.

“Because Citi is a market maker, it can still hedge its positions as an exemption to the FSA’s short selling ban,” says Stefan Wagner, managing director, equity structured products at Citi in London. "However, the ban will prohibit some of the equity-linked structured products that investors can buy. For example, those that include absolute return strategies would not be available because their returns depend on a short-selling component.”

The regulator stated any economic interest held as part of a basket, index or exchange-traded fund where the main constituents are UK financial institutions would be included in the ban. A short position in an index that doesn’t have a large number of financial sector companies, on the other hand, would be permitted. But in anticipation of traders trying to get around the rules, the regulator clarified participants cannot short an index, then go long single stocks in all the constituents other than the financial institutions.

The SEC’s rules were similar to those put in place by the FSA. However, dealers were initially taken by surprise by the apparently limited exemptions for market makers, prompting some to claim they would have to virtually shut their US equity derivatives businesses. The regulator stated the rules were merely delayed until 11.59pm on September 19 for any firm selling short as a result of market-making activities in derivatives referenced to financial stocks or the hedging of positions related to this business.

“It appears from the SEC’s statements that US investment banks will not be exempt from the short selling ban. This means they will not be able to delta-hedge their positions for the duration of the ban. It means banks will have to scale back their equity derivatives businesses because they can’t sell certain derivatives, such as put options,” noted one head of equity derivatives, on the day the ban was announced.

The SEC later brought its rules in line with the FSA, asserting the exemption for derivatives market makers would continue for the duration of the ban, if related to market making or hedging. However, market makers cannot put on a short position if it results in the customer establishing or increasing a net short position after September 22.

Dealers welcomed the clarification. However, as with the UK, the rules will have a knock-on effect on the range of structured products dealers can sell to clients. “It has changed the suite of products we are marketing,” says one equity derivatives trader. “We are no longer offering products that offer long/short exposure on a basket that includes financials. Net short positions also cannot be extended within existing products.”

Meanwhile, some clients are looking to cancel equity derivatives trades on financial names, citing a clause in the documentation stating a contract can be cancelled if there’s a change in the law or if a counterparty cannot hedge. “We are talking to a small number of counterparties about cancelling trades,” the equity derivatives trader says.

Regulators in Europe and Asia have also introduced short selling bans of their own, causing concern there may be different interpretations of the rules in different jurisdictions. “Some are using the FSA’s rules as a basis, but the rules in some markets are very unclear,” the equity derivatives trader says.

See also: SEC to ease mark-to-market rules
Short selling ban could hit derivatives business
Naked short-selling banned in Australia
SEC and FSA ban short selling on financials