The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) has declared the immediate effectivity of its Guidelines for Short Selling Transactions. This comes after regulators have given their go signal on critical components of securities borrowing and lending (SBL). Short selling can only function if an SBL program is in place.
PSE announced the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) approval of offshore collateral for SBL in May 2023 while the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) accepted the filing and registration of the Global Master Securities Lending Agreement (GMSLA) in September 2023.
“We are grateful to the SEC and BIR for their approvals on important regulatory aspects of SBL and short selling. This development brings us a step closer to the full adoption and implementation of these much-awaited programs,” said PSE President and CEO Ramon Monzon, in a statement.
The PSE also announced that it updated the eligible securities in its short selling guidelines to include members of the PSE MidCap and PSE Dividend Yield indices. Initially, only securities comprising the PSE index and exchange traded funds (ETFs) were considered eligible securities for short selling.
The PSE will make a separate announcement on the official launch date of the short selling program. The circular on the Regulatory Framework for Securities Borrowing and Lending and Short Selling Transactions is published on the announcements section of the PSE website.