New UK Short Selling Regime: Giving you the long and the short of it

Top 10 things you need to know

From 13 July 2026, the UK will replace the onshored EU Short Selling Regulation with a significantly modified UK regime. Following the FCA's publication of its final rules in PS 25/5 in April 2026, firms now have approximately three months to prepare for the vast majority of changes, which will most likely require procedural and operational changes to internal systems.

Our latest client briefing note sets out the key changes and what they mean in practice for your business. Below, we highlight some of the headline points.

We have also been working closely with AIMA (the Alternative Investment Management Association) to prepare a new Short Selling Q&A document, which will serve as a practical guide for firms navigating the UK's new short selling regime. To mark the launch of this document, we will be hosting a webinar on 7 May 2026 at 10am, where we will share our insights on the new regime and discuss key considerations for firms ahead of its implementation on 13 July 2026. We would be delighted if you could join us. You can register for the webinar here.

Key changes at a glance

Public disclosure removed: The current 0.5% named public disclosure threshold is being removed. In its place, the FCA will publish anonymised, aggregate net short positions (ANSPs) for each in-scope issuer, based on all NSPs reported at or above the 0.2% threshold. ANSPs for each working day will be published by the FCA from 12pm on T+2.

Reportable Shares List: The FCA will publish and maintain a machine-readable, definitive list of shares subject to the UK position reporting and cover requirements - the "Reportable Shares List". This will replace the current need for firms to manually cross-reference FIRDS and the exempt shares list, which has been administratively burdensome and led to inconsistencies across the market.

Extended reporting deadline: The reporting deadline is being extended from 3:30pm to 11:59pm UK time on T+1 - an extension of 8½ hours. This may be particularly welcome for firms based in the Americas, who have historically struggled to file within UK business hours.

UK sovereign debt: UK sovereign debt and associated CDS will be removed entirely from the scope of both the disclosure and cover requirements. However, the FCA retains emergency powers in relation to short selling activities in UK sovereign debt and associated CDS.

No material changes to NSP calculations or cover: Except for the changes regarding UK sovereign debt and associated CDSs, there are no material changes to how firms calculate NSPs or obtain appropriate cover, and firms should take comfort from this.

Parallel compliance: The EU SSR continues to be in force as normal in the EU and EEA. Firms subject to both UK and EU rules will need to ensure parallel compliance with two separate regimes.

Get in Touch

If you have any questions about the new regime, please contact any of your usual Simmons & Simmons contacts or the key contacts listed here.