Posted on 7 March 2010
The Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR) submitted a technical advice report on 2 March 2010 to the European Institutions recommending the introduction of a pan-European disclosure regime for net short positions in shares. Until a European Union regime is adopted, those CESR members which have the legal powers to do so will move towards the implementation of this regime whilst those members without such powers will aim towards the implementation of the regime on a best efforts basis.
The regime is a two-tier model for the disclosure of significant individual net short positions in all shares that are admitted to trading on a European Economic Area (EEA) regulated market and/or an EEA multilateral trading facility when the primary market of those shares is located in the EEA. Under the proposed regime, positions at a lower threshold of 0.2% should be disclosed to the relevant competent authority. In addition, steps of 0.1% would trigger further disclosure obligations. Once the position of 0.5% is reached (and any additional steps of 0.1%) the position should be disclosed to the competent authority and the market as a whole.
Related Link: CESR letter
