UK government's revamped short selling regulation sparks debate about market transparency

Changes to anonymity

Linus Uhlig
clock • 5 min read

The UK government’s freshly introduced rules for short selling have sparked lively debate about the degree to which the changes will improve transparency in financial markets, with some experts declaring it a victory for asset managers “concerned about copycat behaviour [and] short squeezes”.

The changes follow alterations to the existing Short Selling Regulation (SSR) resulting from repeals of European Union legislation following the UK's withdrawal from the EU in 2020.  The state of play  Under the UK short selling regime, firms have to report to the Financial Conduct Authority any net short positions in shares of companies trading on a UK market when those positions reach 0.2% of a company's issued share capital. When these short positions then reach or exceed 0.5%, the UK's financial watchdog publicly discloses these positions on its website, identifying the firms or...

To continue reading this article...

Join Investment Week for free

  • Unlimited access to real-time news, analysis and opinion from the investment industry, including the Sustainable Hub covering fund news from the ESG space
  • Get ahead of regulatory and technological changes affecting fund management
  • Important and breaking news stories selected by the editors delivered straight to your inbox each day
  • Weekly members-only newsletter with exclusive opinion pieces from leading industry experts
  • Be the first to hear about our extensive events schedule and awards programmes

Join now

 

Already an Investment Week
member?

Login

More on Markets

Over £900m lost in UK finance and insurance private investment in 2024

Over £900m lost in UK finance and insurance private investment in 2024

Fourth largest percentage decrease across sectors

Patrick Brusnahan
clock 10 July 2025 • 1 min read
Wellington Management's Natasha Brook-Walters: How to position for the new investing regime

Wellington Management's Natasha Brook-Walters: How to position for the new investing regime

Time to evolve

Natasha Brook-Walters
clock 10 July 2025 • 4 min read
Global IPOs expected to 'remain quiet' amid market volatility triggered by Trump's tariffs

Global IPOs expected to 'remain quiet' amid market volatility triggered by Trump's tariffs

European and UK IPOs on decline

Sorin Dojan
clock 09 July 2025 • 2 min read
Trustpilot