On Tuesday 17 March, the Autorité des marches financiers (AMF), in the light of the outbreak of COVID‑19 and its consequences on the economy and financial market in France, decided pursuant to Article L. 421-16, II, of the French monetary and financial code (code monétaire et financier) and Article 20 of the Regulation (EU) No 236/2012 of 14 March 2012 on short selling and certain aspects of credit default swaps (European Short Selling Regulation) to ban for a total period of 30 days the creation or increase of short net positions with immediate effect on 18 March 2020. Such ban should therefore have ended on 16 April 2020.
However and given the current exceptional circumstances which remain a serious threat to market confidence, the AMF has decided on 14 April 2020 to renew such ban until 18 May 2020 (read the decision here). Thus, the ban is applicable since 18 March 2020 at 00:00 hours and until 18 May 2020 at 11:59pm.
As a reminder, are banned all taking of net short position within the meaning of article 3 of the European Short Selling Regulation and all increase of net short position in the share capital of issuers whose shares are admitted to trading on a French trading venue and for whom the AMF is the relevant competent authority within the meaning of the above-mentioned regulation. The ban does not concern market making activities carried out by persons who are exempted under article 17 of the European Short Selling Regulation.
In addition, to help investors implement such decision, the AMF has compiled a document containing answers to any practical questions that may arise (see the FAQ here).
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