Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Australia to extend short selling ban on financials

Australia's market regulator will extend a ban on covered short-selling of financial securities until March 6, citing increased volatility in financial stocks overseas, it said on Wednesday.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) had originally said the ban would remain in place until at least Jan. 27.

"As many factors are at play in these overseas markets, ASIC needs time to examine these latest developments. ASIC will therefore, over the next few weeks, assess the markets more carefully to determine the role of short selling and aggressive or predatory practices and whether there are similar risks for Australia when the ban is lifted," it said.

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