Korea’s financial authorities have decided to extend the implementation of a short selling ban, originally scheduled to end by the end of this month, until March 30, 2025.
The Financial Services Commission (FSC), the country’s top financial regulator, announced Thursday afternoon that the additional extension was necessary to set up a central computerized system that can monitor and prevent naked short selling practices.
“The FSC has determined to extend the short selling ban until March 30 next year in order to resolve market concerns over hindrances of fair 추천 price formation by establishing a short selling computer system,” FSC Vice Chairman Kim So-young said during a press briefing on Thursday.
Explaining the reasons behind the decision, Kim said, “If short selling practices were to resume (as scheduled by the end of this month) without completing the short selling computer system, there is a high risk of large-scale illegal short selling recurring.”
The financial authorities aims to complete the establishment of the computerized short selling monitoring system by the end of next March.
Later this year, the FSC plans to provide guidelines to facilitate institutional investors in preemptively blocking naked short selling through internal balance management systems.
Additionally, the Korea Exchange (KRX), the state-run bourse operator, plans to establish a “Naked Short-Selling Detecting System” (NSDS) by the end of March next year to cross-check and verify institutional investors’ balances and off-exchange trading information.
