Belgium Markets Regulator Bans Short-Selling Of Financial Stocks

Indonesia stock info - Belgium Markets Regulator Bans Short-Selling Of Financial Stocks ; The Belgian Finance Services and Markets Authority announced Thursday that all short-selling of financial shares will be banned, said a spokesman.

The decision comes amid high financial market volatility, which led to a late- evening conference call Thursday among all 27 European Union market regulators.

"One of the aims of the measure is to limit the possibility of making a profit by disseminating misleading information," the Belgian agency said in a statement.

John-Paul Servais, chairman of FSMA, added that the decision was also taken " out of concern for consistency with the action of other regulators in the Euronext zone, even if the current rumors do not specifically affect the financial securities that are listed on Euronext Brussels."

Spain, Italy and France also decided Thursday to impose new bans on short positions.

Belgium already had a ban in place on the naked short-selling of financial shares, which include the companies Ageas (AGS.BT, AGESY), Dexia (DEXB.BT), KBC Group (KBC.BT) and KBC Ancora (KBCA.BT), said a FSMA spokesman. The timing on the ban is indefinite.

"We have the competence to adapt in a flexible way," said the spokesman.

Existing net economic short positions do not fall within the scope of this ban, but they may not be increased.

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