PSE short selling moved to November 6

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Stock Exchange Inc. has moved the launch of its landmark short selling program to Nov. 6, it announced yesterday.

The official go live date was moved from the original Oct. 23 schedule to give market participants more time to prepare and comply with securities borrowing and lending (SBL) and short selling requirements, officials said.

PSE president and CEO Ramon Monzon said the move was a milestone for the local bourse.

“The implementation of short selling is an important milestone for the Philippine stock market. The ability to take short positions will provide investors a tool to hedge their investments, which hopefully will help attract foreign investors back to our market,” Monzon said.

Short selling is the practice of betting on the decline of a stock’s price in order to make a profit. An investor sells a security that he does not own, consummated by the delivery of a borrowed security, with a commitment to return the borrowed security or its equivalent on a determined or determinable future date.

According to Monzon, short selling is also an essential component to securities borrowing and lending program and should generate increased trading activity as more shares are made available through lending.