Germany bans naked shorts

Germany on Tuesday night temporarily banned short selling of debt issued by eurozone countries amid heated discussion in Europe of regulatory curbs on speculative trading, the FT reports. BaFin, the country’s financial regulator,  cited “exceptional volatility” in eurozone debt securities as its rationale for the move. The ban also extends to so-called ‘naked CDS’ on eurozone debt, and to naked short sales of shares in 10 financial institutions, including Deutsche Bank, Allianz and Commerzbank. The euro fell 1.6% to a fresh 4-year low of  $1.2162 on the announcement.