Borsa Istanbul bans short selling for 6 int'l investors

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) – Turkey's Borsa Istanbul on Monday introduced a short selling ban on shares of six international institutions listed on the benchmark stock exchange.

The ban will remain in force for Barclays, Credit Suisse and Merrill Lynch for three months, and Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Wood and Company will be banned for a month, according to a statement by Borsa Istanbul.

"Short selling means selling capital markets instruments that the seller does not own, or placing an order for such sales," said Borsa Istanbul, adding that any sales "completed by using borrowed capital markets instruments to fulfill the settlement obligation relating to the sales" would also be counted as a short sale.

Last week, the Capital Markets Board of Turkey, which banned short sale transactions for the top 30 shares on Borsa Istanbul in February, lifted the restriction.