The Athens stock market reopened today after being closed for five weeks amid the ongoing Greek debt crisis.
According to an announcement by the Hellenic Capital Markets Commission (HCMC), there are strict rules to try and stabilise a market that is already reported to be down by over 22% in early trading.
Short selling has been banned by HCMC and the redemption of mutual funds’ units will continue to be suspended.
However, according to a document released by HCMC, there are a number of exemptions for short selling, for instance: “when the short selling transactions are conducted for hedging purposes”.
While the stock market reopens, Greek bank recapitalisation is on the agenda this week as talks between the Greek finance ministry and the country’s creditors continue.
It is understood that the country’s four largest banks are together expected to need between €10 billion and €25 billion in capital from the latest bailout.
This follows strict capital controls that had to be introduced following a flight of capital from the banks as the economy dropped back into recession this year.
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