Cesr proposes pan-European short-selling regime

Europe's Level 3 committee for securities regulators has proposed a harmonised shorting disclosure regime

PARIS - The Committee of European Banking Supervisors (Cesr) is proposing pan-European short-selling disclosure across the European Union to unite the range of disclosure measures put in place by national governments under one regime.

Cesr is holding an open hearing on September 9 at its Paris offices on the shape a solution should take, including enhanced transparency, the mechanics and timing of disclosure, possible exemptions, the legal basis for creating a permanent regime, and the disclosure model to be used - possibly a two-tier system involving disclosure thresholds and dependent upon the calculated size of short positions.

Regulators across the EU put a hotchpotch of national short-term short-selling bans into place last year following freefalling share prices of the large banks in the wake of the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

Short sellers were widely blamed for exacerbating those falls in share prices and compromising financial stability. The past year has seen the relaxation of the temporary bans but a raft of disclosure requirements left in place by concerned regulators.

Click here to find details of Cesr's public hearing.