During the summer and autumn, share lending increased to historically high levels for Swedish bank shares and financial shares. During the past few weeks, however, share lending has declined considerably for three of the four largest bank shares. The price trend during the same period has generally been volatile and downward. The development is similar for many non-financial shares.
Finansinspektionen has investigated the price trend for banks in the USA, Great Britain, Germany and France after these countries imposed short-selling restrictions. We can conclude that the price trend, despite the restrictions, has not resulted in a stable and calm market, which was the intention. The short-selling restrictions have recently been lifted in the USA.
A ban on short selling in Sweden would probably require a change in legislation. It is already forbidden, for example, to unduly influence the price of a share and such is reported to the Swedish National Economic Crimes Bureau.
Promemoria: FI:s undersökning av aktielån och kursutveckling
