Consob (Commissione Nazionale per le Società e le Borse) resolved today that the sale of shares issued by banks and insurance companies listed and traded on the Italian regulated markets shall be supported, from the moment of the order up and until the date of the settlement of the transaction, by the availability by the ordering party of the relevant securities.
The operators for the clearing and settlement systems shall adopt any and all measures to prevent speculative manoeuvres that may entail an anomalous reduction of the prices of shares issued by banks and insurance companies.
The above provisions shall not apply to the activity carried out, in the exercise of their own functions, by market makers referred to under Article 1, paragraph 5-quater of Legislative Decree No. 58 of February 24, 1998, nor to the activity carried out in regulated markets, in the exercise of their own functions, by specialists and liquidity providers as defined in the Listing Rules of the regulated markets organised and managed by Borsa Italiana S.p.A.
These provisions shall take effects from 0.00 h. of September 23, 2008 to 12.00 p.m. of October 31, 2008.
The resolution follows the request to fully comply with the rules on delivery of securities, issued by Consob on September 19, 2008 vis-à-vis the operators of the market.
These provisions are adoted also in the light of the measures imposing restrictions on short sales in relation to banking and insurance securities issued on September 22, 2008 by the competent authority of Ireland, Germany, France, Luxembourg, Belgium and The Netherlands, as well as of the exceptional measures adopted in this matter by the Authorities of the United Kingdom and the United States.
The resolution is aimed at ensuring the transparency of the markets, the orderly conduct of trading and the protection of investors, believing it necessary to avoid that speculative manoeuvres, possibly entailing an anomalous reduction of prices of banking and insurance shares, are directed to Italian markets.
The text of the resolution (no. 16622 of September 22, 2008) is available on Consob web-site.