U.K. regulator extends short-sale rules

LONDON (MarketWatch) — Britain’s Financial Services Authority on Friday extended indefinitely rules that require traders to disclose net short positions in 30 U.K. financial companies. The rules had been set to expire on June 30. “Extending the regime will continue to help reduce the potential for abusive behavior and disorderly markets,” the FSA said, in a statement. Although no expiration date was set, the FSA said it doesn’t intend to make the rules permanent. The rules require net short positions to be disclosed when they exceeds 0.25% of a company’s shares. Additional disclosures are required each time the position grows by an additional 0.1%.