Philippines
- Market closure. Philippine stock exchange closed Tuesday, March 17, 2020.
- According to Philippine stock exchange chief, he plans to reopen the exchange on Thursday, March 19, 2020.
- Bankers Association of the Philippines targets to re-open trading of foreign exchange and bonds on Wednesday, March 18, 2020.
Sri Lanka
- Market closure. Colombo Stock Exchange closed Tuesday, March 17, 2020.
- Government declared a holiday asking all non-essential businesses not to operate on March 17-19, 2020.
- A decision on whether the exchange will be open March 18 and 19 during the remaining two days of the government declared holiday is expected March 17, 2020.
Australia
- Restrictions on trading. Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) has issued directions under the ASIC Market Integrity Rules to a number of large equity market participants, requiring those participants to limit the number of trades executed each day until further notice. These directions require those firms to reduce their number of executed trades by up to 25% from the levels executed on Friday.
France
- Restrictions on short selling. France’s Autorité des Marchés Financiers banned short selling in 92 shares, those most impacted during Monday’s (March 16, 2020) sell-off, until the end of Tuesday’s (March 17, 20202) trading session.
Italy
- Restrictions on short selling. Financial market authority Consob has prohibited short sales on 20 stocks for the trading session of March 17, 2020.
Spain
- Restrictions on short selling. Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV) has forbidden market players to build new net short positions in all Spanish shares or to increase existing ones for one month, effective March 17, 2020. This ban can be renewed for three-months periods if necessary. In addition to Spanish stocks, the ban also applies to index-linked products, spots, derivatives as well as over-the-counter transactions.
European Union
- Restrictions on short selling. The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), on Tuesday, March 17, 2020 began forcing greater transparency of short positions by halving the threshold at which they must be disclosed.
United Kingdom
- Restrictions on short selling. The U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) also issued a temporary ban on the shorting of 37 Belgian and Italian stocks following moves from respective regulators in both countries. The ban was effective March 17, 2020 until the end of the day March 17, 2020.
Belgium
- Restrictions on short selling. Belgian regulator, the Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA), announced a ban on shorts for a basket of stocks during Tuesday’s (March 17, 2020) trade in order to avoid what it termed a “disorderly decline” in markets.
Kuwait
- Market closure. Trading closed on March 12, 2020 and resumed on March 15, 2020 to address the fast-paced changes and turbulence facing the local exchange market, as well as regional and international exchanges, as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak.