CHAPTER I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Short and long positions
Article 3
1
For the purposes of this Regulation, a position resulting from either of the following shall be considered to be a short position relating to issued share capital or issued sovereign debt:
a
a short sale of a share issued by a company or of a debt instrument issued by a sovereign issuer;
b
entering into a transaction which creates or relates to a financial instrument other than an instrument referred to in point (a) where the effect or one of the effects of the transaction is to confer a financial advantage on the natural or legal person entering into that transaction in the event of a decrease in the price or value of the share or debt instrument.
2
For the purposes of this Regulation, a position resulting from either of the following shall be considered to be a long position relating to issued share capital or issued sovereign debt:
a
holding a share issued by a company or a debt instrument issued by a sovereign issuer;
b
entering into a transaction which creates or relates to a financial instrument other than an instrument referred to in point (a) where the effect or one of the effects of the transaction is to confer a financial advantage on the natural or legal person entering into that transaction in the event of an increase in the price or value of the share or debt instrument.
3
For the purposes of paragraphs 1 and 2, the calculation of a short or a long position, in respect of any position held by the relevant person indirectly, including through or by way of any index, basket of securities or any interest in any exchange traded fund or similar entity, shall be determined by the natural or legal person in question acting reasonably having regard to publicly available information as to the composition of the relevant index or basket of securities, or of the interests held by the relevant exchange traded fund or similar entity. In calculating such a short or long position, no person shall be required to obtain any real-time information as to such composition from any person.
For the purposes of paragraphs 1 and 2 the calculation of a short or long position relating to sovereign debt shall include any sovereign credit default swap that relates to the sovereign issuer.
4
For the purposes of this Regulation, the position remaining after deducting any long position that a natural or legal person holds in relation to the issued share capital from any short position that that natural or legal person holds in relation to that capital shall be considered a net short position in relation to the issued share capital of the company concerned.
5
For the purposes of this Regulation, the position remaining after deducting any long position that a natural or legal person holds in relation to issued sovereign debt and any long position in debt instruments of a sovereign issuer the pricing of which is highly correlated to the pricing of the given sovereign debt from any short position that that natural or legal person holds in relation to the same sovereign debt shall be considered a net short position in relation to the issued sovereign debt of the sovereign issuer concerned.
6
The calculation of sovereign debt under paragraphs 1 to 5 shall be for each single sovereign issuer even if separate entities issue sovereign debt on behalf of the sovereign issuer.
7
The Treasury may by regulations specify:
a
cases in which a natural or legal person is considered to hold a share or debt instrument for the purposes of paragraph 2;
b
cases in which a natural or legal person has a net short position for the purposes of paragraphs 4 and 5 and the method of calculation of such position;
c
the method of calculating positions for the purposes of paragraphs 3, 4 and 5 when different entities in a group have long or short positions or for fund management activities relating to separate funds.
For the purposes of point (c) of the first subparagraph, the method of calculation shall take into account, in particular, whether different investment strategies are pursued in relation to a particular issuer through more than one separate fund managed by the same fund manager, whether the same investment strategy is pursued in relation to a particular issuer through more than one fund, and whether more than one portfolio within the same entity is managed on a discretionary basis pursuing the same investment strategy in relation to a particular issuer.
Words in Art. 3(7) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Short Selling (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018 (S.I. 2018/1321), regs. 1(2), 6 (with savings in S.I. 2019/680, reg. 11); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)