On 1 April 2025, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published an update relating to the notification and disclosure of net short positions.
The update relates to:
- The publication of an update to the UK List of Exempted Shares.
- The Short Selling Regulations 2025.
Updated UK List of Exempted Shares
The FCA notes that it has completed the second stage of its biannual review of the UK List of Exempted Shares, with the updated list applying to all positions from 1 April 2025.
Short Selling Regulations 2025
The update also notes that HM Treasury published the final Short Selling Regulations 2025 in January 2025, setting out high level requirements for the new UK short selling regime and also giving the FCA powers to set out more detailed rules to complete and implement the new regime. The FCA is aiming to consult on its new short selling rules in Q3 2025.
It also notes that certain aspects of the regulation will be implemented once the new rules have been finalised and once there has been enough time for the FCA to make any technical and operational changes; this includes the new requirement to publish aggregated net short positions by issuer. In the interim, the existing UK short selling regime will continue to apply, including the current public disclosure of individual firms’ net short positions in issuers at the 0.5% threshold and above.