IRELAND: Central Bank of Ireland responds to request for clarification on lifting measures regarding Ireland short selling

Wednesday January 4 2012

In a press release of 30th December, the Central Bank announced the end of the ban on Ireland short selling of certain financial instruments. Media reports have stated that this relates only to Bank of Ireland plc. The Central Bank responded to a request for further details as follows:

“The Central Bank of Ireland’s ban on short selling of certain financial instruments, which had been in place since September 2008, was lifted from midnight on 30 December 2011.

Originally the ban applied to Anglo Irish Bank plc, Allied Irish Bank plc, Irish Life & Permanent plc and Bank of Ireland. As at 30 December 2011 the ban only applied to Bank of Ireland.

Section 10 of the Central Bank of Ireland’s Market Abuse Rules have been deleted, this includes the requirement to disclose net short positions. Therefore both the Ireland short selling ban and the disclosure requirement have been removed.

The Central Bank of Ireland’s Market Abuse Rules have been updated to reflect this change.”