Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the eventual cost to HM Treasury of the European Union's proposed ban on short selling should it be enforced in the United Kingdom.

There is no proposed ban on short selling of securities so it is not possible for the Government to assess the costs.

The Short Selling Regulation, which came into force on 1 November 2012, is an EU-wide Regulation that lays down a common regulatory framework for powers and requirements related to the short selling of securities. In particular, it gives powers to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to ban or impose restrictions on short selling of securities in certain circumstances, as well as impose the requirement on investors to disclose net short positions (both publicly, and privately to the FCA).