FSMA announces prohibition of short selling and similar transactions on the regulated market of Euronext Brussels, pursuant to Article 23 of the Regulation (EU) no. 236/2012 of the European Parliament (SSR)
HAVING REGARD TO Regulation (EU) no. 236/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of March 14, 2012 (SSR);
HAVING REGARD TO Article 37ter of the Law of 2 August 2002 on the supervision of the financial sector and on financial services, according to which the FSMA is appointed with the task to implement the measures and exercise the functions and powers provided by Regulation (EU) no. 236/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of March 14, 2012 with reference to shares, among others;
HAVING REGARD TO Article 23 of the above-mentioned Regulation (EU) no. 236/2012, which defines the power, where the price of a financial instrument on a trading venue has fallen significantly during a single trading day in relation to the closing price on that venue on the previous trading day, for the competent authority of the home Member State for that venue to consider whether it is appropriate to prohibit or restrict natural or legal persons from engaging in short selling of the financial instrument on that trading venue or otherwise limit transactions in that financial instrument on that trading venue in order to prevent a disorderly decline in the price of the financial instrument;
HAVING REGARD TO Article 23 of the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) no 918/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of July 5, 2012 supplementing Regulation (EU) no 236/2012 on short selling and certain aspects of credit default swaps with regard to definitions, the calculation of net short positions, covered sovereign credit default swaps, notification thresholds, liquidity thresholds for suspending restrictions, significant falls in the value of financial instruments and adverse events;
CONSIDERING that the fall of shares’ price of companies included in Attachment no. 1 of this Resolution on the Brussels Regulated Markets during March 16, 2020, compared to the closing price on the previous trading day, was greater than the relevant threshold set in Article 23;
RESOLVES AS FOLLOWS:
1. The prohibition of short selling in shares included in the Attachment no. 1 of this resolution, on the regulated market of Euronext Brussels, organized and managed by Euronext S.A., under Article 23 of the above-mentioned Regulation, taking effect for the entire trading day of March 17, 2020.
2. It is clarified that, pursuant to Article 23(3), the above-mentioned prohibition does not apply to the activity of market making, as defined by Article 2(1)(k) of the aforementioned Regulation.
This resolution shall be transmitted to ESMA pursuant to Article 26 of the Regulation EU no. 236 2012 and shall be published on the FSMA website after the positive conclusion of the procedure provided for in the above-mentioned Article.
This resolution shall also be transmitted to Euronext Brussels and shall take effect as soon as it is published on the FSMA website.