On 28 October 2025, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published a consultation paper (CP25/29) on new proposed rules and guidance in relation to short selling activity.

Background

The FCA has set out that these proposals are based on feedback to HM Treasury’s Call for Evidence on the Short Selling Regulation, which concluded that the short selling regime did not need to be fundamentally changed but that it needed to be modified to reduce burdens on firms.

Key proposals

The FCA explained that the proposals would:

  • Position reporting: Extend the deadline by which relevant persons are required to notify a change in their net short positions (NSPs) to 23:59 T+1 and provide additional guidance on the calculation of NSPs and reporting within groups.
  • Covering: Require that records demonstrating appropriate covering agreements and arrangements be held for a minimum of 5 years.
  • Reportable shares list: Expand the criteria used to determine which shares should be subject to reporting and covering requirements, with a view to reducing the number of shares on the reportable shares list (RSL) and change the date on which the FCA updates the RSL from 1 January to 1 April to align with the publication of the EU’s list under the EU Short Selling Regulation.
  • Market maker exemptions: Simplify the notification process for market makers, reduce the period of time that market makers are required to submit notifications, and change the content of notifications to enable market makers to utilise exemptions more quickly and easily to support their activities.
  • Public disclosure:  Issue new guidance detailing how the FCA will calculate, publish, update, and correct the list of aggregate net short positions reported to the FCA by NSPs that it discloses.

Next steps

The FCA has asked for comments by 16 December 2025.