PRESS RELEASE

Consob decided to temporary prohibit short sales in 85 Italian shares (see Attachment) with resolution no. 21301 of 12 March 2020.

The prohibition was adopted pursuant to Article 23 of regulation (UE) n. 236/2012 on short selling, considering the price change recorded by the shares on 12^th March 2020.

The ban will apply for the entire trading session of tomorrow, Friday 13^th March 2020, on the MTA market of Borsa Italiana.

The prohibition applies to short sales backed by stock lending. This extended the scope of the prohibition of naked short selling, already in force for all shares from 1^st November 2012 by virtue of the regulation (UE) n. 236/2012 on short selling.

The text of the resolution is available on the website www.consob.it and is attached to this press release.

Rome, 12 March 2020

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Resolution no. 21301 of 12 March 2020

Temporary prohibition of short selling in some shares traded in the MTA Italian regulated market, pursuant to Article 23 of the Regulation (EU) of the European Parliament and of the Council no. 236 of 14 March 2012

LA COMMISSIONE NAZIONALE PER LE SOCIETÀ E LA BORSA

HAVING REGARD TO Law no. 216 of June 7, 1974, as subsequently amended and integrated;

HAVING REGARD TO Regulation (EU) no. 236/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of  March 14, 2012;

HAVING REGARD TO Article 4-ter(2) of Legislative Decree no. 58 of February 24, 1998, according to which Consob is appointed with the task to implement the measures and exercise the functions and powers provided by Regulation (EU) no. 236/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of March 14, 2012 with reference to shares, among others;    

HAVING REGARD TO Article 12 of Regulation (EU) no. 236/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of March 14, 2012, imposing restrictions on uncovered short sales in shares;

HAVING REGARD TO Article 23 of the above-mentioned Regulation (EU) no. 236/2012, which defines the power to temporarily restrict short selling of financial instruments in case of a fall in price greater than the thresholds set in the same Article;

TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THAT the fall of the shares' prices included in Attachment no. 1 of this resolution, during March 12, 2020, compared to the closing price on the previous trading day, was greater than the relevant threshold set in Article 23;

CONSIDERING THAT the information background does not fully validate the above-mentioned price fluctuation;

RESOLVES AS FOLLOWS:

1.  The prohibition of short selling in shares included in the Attachement no. 1 of this resolution, on the MTA, a regulated market organised and managed by Borsa Italiana S.p.A., under Article 23 of the above-mentioned Regulation, taking effect for the entire trading day of March 13, 2020.

2. It is clarified that, pursuant to Article 23(3), the above-mentioned prohibition does not apply to the activity of market making, as defined by Article 2(1)(k) of the aforementioned Regulation.

This resolution shall be transmitted to ESMA pursuant to Article 23 of the Regulation EU no. 236 2012 and shall be published on the Consob website after the positive conclusion of the procedure provided for in the above-mentioned Article.

This resolution shall take effect as soon as it is published on the Consob website. This resolution shall be transmitted to Borsa Italiana and shall be published on the Consob Bulletin.

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona

Annex 1 - List of securities subject to the ban on short selling

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