OREANDA-NEWS. March 27, 2009.  The Federal Securities Service extended the ban on short selling of unsecured securities and limits on margin transactions effective March 26. Starting today the financial market watchdog has suspended “operations which involve placing an order to buy securities, if the person, at whose expense the relevant transaction is expected to be executed, does not have the required number of securities”, the service’s press office reported.

The new requirements extended the earlier ban. Restrictions remain for the highest threshold (a 1:1 ratio) of a margin that a broker offers a client for margin trading. The Federal Securities Service did not specify the duration of the ban, but the maximum validity term for such FSS orders is six months. “By failing to specify the term, the service is essentially prolonging the validity of the previous orders by six months,” a source close to FSS said. Professional market participants have long insisted on having the ban lifted, as they believe the market environment has stabilized in recent weeks and restrictions enacted at the height of the crisis are no longer topical.