On 12 February 2025, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) updated its webpage on notification and disclosure of net short positions to provide a short selling update.

In the update, the FCA notes that the final Short Selling Regulations 2025 were published in January 2025, setting out high level requirements for the new UK short selling regime. The Regulations also give the FCA powers to set out more detailed rules to complete and implement the new regime.

The FCA flags that it aims to consult on its new short selling rules in Q3 2025. Certain aspects of the regulation will be implemented once the FCA has finalised the new rules and allowed time to make any technical and operational changes, including the new requirement to publish aggregated and net short positions by issuer.

In the interim, the FCA confirms that 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.

The update also flags that the FCA published its updated UK list of exempted shares on 1 January 2025.