GERMANY, IRELAND, AUSTRALIA, FRANCE, SWITZERLAND, AND PORTUGAL JOIN THE FIGHT!

UPDATE (11:50PM): Taiwan bans the short selling of 150 stocks, effective tomorrow until Oct 3.


Look at what the SEC started! We are now in the midst of the largest artificial global short squeeze in history. So far, the US, UK, and Canada issued orders to ban short-selling in certain financial stocks, but now Germany, Ireland, Australia, France, and Portugal have joined the global war against shorts! This is insanity. Traders have been talking about the end to free market capitalism in the US, but this has turned into something even more ridiculous. Welcome to the end of free markets in the entire industrialized world.

Germany announced that they have halted short-selling in the following financials:

• AAreal Bank
• Allianz
• AMB Generali
• Commerzbank
• Deutsche Bank
• Deutsche Boerse
• Deutsche Postbank
• Hannover Re
• Hypo Real Estate
• Munich Re

This ban by the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority is in effect until the end of the year.

The ban for the US is in effect until October 2, October 3 for Canada, and January 16 for the UK.

Ireland banned the shorting of four of its financials:

• Bank of Ireland
• Allied Irish Banks
• Irish Life and Permanent
• Anglo Irish Bank Corp.

The Irish Financial Regulator also requires positions of more than 0.25% of the issued share capital be disclosed every day starting on September 23 at 3:30PM.

In the most dramatic move against short-sellers yet, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) banned short-selling of all listed shares. The ASIC noted: there was a risk that if Australia didn’t follow with its own ban that there would be a risk of “unwarranted activity” in the Australian market.

France’s AMF stated that they will take similar actions as they increase monitoring of short-selling as well as deliver a warning against naked short-selling. Switzerland also issued a warning against naked short-selling on its SWX exchange in Zurich. Portugal’s CMVM announced that they will incorporate similar “extraordinary measures” against short-selling. It is possible that most or all European regulators will follow the Committee of European Securities Regulators’ (CESR) extensive efforts to limit or ban short-selling. See the CESR’s press release here.

How are the world’s financial regulators getting away with this and how far are they seriously willing to go?