ESMA Short Selling Ban to Take Effect Midnight CET

As Greece heads further down the path towards a Grexit, governments and markets are reacting.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) have also taken action. In an official opinion today, the European financial watchdog announced a seven-day emergency short selling prohibition.

The prohibition, proposed by the Hellenic Capital Market Commission (HMCM) under the Short Selling Regulation , will temporarily ban transactions in “any financial instrument that creates, or increases, a net short position on any of the shares admitted to trading on the Athens Exchange and Multilateral Trading Facility."

The ban accompanies other emergency measures imposed by Alexis Tsipras’ government, including capital controls on banks and the closure of the Greek Stock Exchange .

In a statement, ESMA said that it “considers that adverse developments which constitute a serious threat to market confidence in the Greek market have arisen and that the proposed measure is appropriate and proportionate to address the above mentioned threats."

The ban will take effect at 00:00:01 hours (CET) June 30, 2015 and remain in place until 24:00:00 (CET) on July 6, 2015.