10 Jun 2010

EU ban on short selling wanted

12:24 pm on 10 June 2010

France and Germany have called on the European Union to ban short selling.

Both governments want a ban on gambling on certain ways on government bonds, including the practice of what is called naked short selling, which Germany has already outlawed.

They are worried about severe turbulence and high market volatility.

They want the European Commission to impose stricter controls on how government bonds are traded, such as credit default swaps or short selling the bonds themselves.