ANALYST VIEWS: WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THE GERMAN BAN ON SHORT SELLING?
MARTIN BLESSING | COMMERZBANK
“Besides the ban on naked short selling, I am thinking particularly of credit default swaps. Such financial instruments can serve as a warning light. On the other hand, they also unnecessarily aggravated the situation, and even increased the risk of a default.”
ANTHONY BELCHAMBERS | FUTURES AND OPTIONS ASSOC
“This is going to result in hopeless confusion in the financial services sector. It makes the whole role of market functionality and compliance difficult to fulfil.”
SIMON TILFORD | CENTRE FOR EUROPEAN REFORM
“It suggests that the Germans are no closer to understanding that the markets are not the problem here. The markets are right to be uncertain about the sustainability of the Eurozone in its current form. It’s pretty populist stuff. It’s very difficult to imagine the French doing something like this, making this sort of unilateral decision.”
MARK CHANDLER | BROWN BROTHERS HARRIMAN
“Market participants concluded that the move was ill-thought out, uncoordinated, and likely ineffective. This would seem to be yet another case of a European government taking the wrong fork in the road.”
BOB POZEN | MFS INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT
“These are understandable reactions by the government but they are unfortunate and ineffective … It’s a very blunt instrument that doesn’t make any sense.”