16/03/2020 (Agence Europe) – After a first set of recommendations to financial players last week (see EUROPE 12445/17), the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) took, on Monday 16 March, a new temporary decision to increase transparency on short selling – a stock market technique that consists of betting on the fall of a share – to calm the financial markets in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. From Monday and for 3 months, it indicates that holders of net short positions will now have to notify their national authority of their positions that reach or exceed 0.1% of the issued capital, as opposed to a threshold of 0.2% prior to the announcement. “ESMA considers that the current circumstances constitute a serious threat to market confidence in the EU and that the proposed measure is appropriate and proportionate”, it says in a statement. See the decision: https://bit.ly/33nW1Uj (MF)