CMB Banned Short Selling While Facilitating Buybacks
Contents
- Recent Developments
- Short Selling Ban
- Facilities for Share Buybacks
- Maintenance Margin Requirement for Transactions on Credit
Recent Developments
With the announcement made pursuant to the resolution dated 23 March 2025 and numbered 18/574 (the “Announcement“), the Capital Markets Board (“the CMB“) banned short selling in Borsa İstanbul A.Ş. (“BIST“) equity markets until the end of the session on 25 April 2025. Moreover, pursuant to the Announcement, the CMB further facilitated the legal requirements for listed companies to buy back their own shares in line with its resolution numbered i-SPK.22.9 (dated 19 March 2025 and numbered 16/531).
Short Selling Ban
Within the scope of the announcement made pursuant to the CMB’s resolution dated 5 December 2024 and numbered 62/1863, the short selling ban in BIST equity markets, which was introduced with the resolution dated 6 February 2023, was lifted for BIST-50 equity markets effective as of 2 January 2025.
The CMB announced that short selling is banned until the end of the session on 25 April 2025. Positions opened during the day, without pressing the short sale button, and closed on the same day will also be considered short sales.
Facilities for Share Buybacks
With the announcement, the CMB eased certain restrictions stipulated in the regulations for share buybacks. Accordingly, the following rules will not apply to share buyback transactions that are to be carried out until the end of the session on 25 April 2025:
- Rules on the upper limit of the price order for buyback,
- Rules stipulating that buyback orders cannot be given at certain time periods during the day, and no private order can be given within the buyback program,
- Rules stipulating that the total value of the shares purchased under the buyback program cannot exceed the total amount of items that can be subject to dividend distribution under the CMB regulations.
Maintenance Margin Requirement for Transactions on Credit
Brokerage firms can apply a minimum maintenance margin ratio of 20% for transactions on credit until the end of the session on 25 April 2025, instead of the usual 35%, to the extent appropriate to their own risk policies and considering client demands as much as possible.
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