Notification and disclosure of net short positions

The Short Selling Regulations 2025 (SSR 2025) introduced a new regime for the notification and disclosure of net short positions (NSP) in reportable shares submitted by investors.

What this page covers

• Description of the ANSP report published by the FCA.
• Your reporting obligations under the SSR regime.
• How to determine whether a share is reportable and when the RSL is updated.
• Covering requirements under SSR.
• When and how to calculate a NSP.
• How to submit NSP notifications to the FCA (for more detailed, step-by-step instructions on submitting notifications, see the Electronic Submission System (ESS) user guide).
• SSR exemptions and waivers.

Aggregate net short positions (ANSP)

Current ANSP report

Each working day from 12:00, the FCA publishes the current ANSP report:

• ANSP XLSX format (current and historic)[2].
• Current CSV format[3].

The current ANSPs are formed of the individual NSPs reported to us at or above the 0.2% threshold in companies on the reportable shares list on or before the previous working day. Individual positions are anonymised and are not disclosed. The most recent individual notification in a company is used where a position has not been updated that day.

ANSPs are published on a ‘T+2’ basis with individual positions from 2 working days earlier and reported to us the day after the position was held.

Historic ANSP report

The historical ANSP is also included in this report. It shows changes in aggregated net short positions over time, including when an ANSP becomes historic as it is superseded by a new current ANSP or because a share is no longer reportable.

• ANSP XLSX format (current and historic)[2].
• Historic ANSP CSV format[4].

Verification of individual NSP

For the calculation of ANSPs, we rely on the robustness, timeliness, and accuracy of notifications received from firms and individuals.

In exceptional circumstances, we may review notifications and contact firms or individuals to verify positions, particularly if they are large positions or make a significant change to a previous position.   We may delay inclusion of notifications while verifying their accuracy or completeness.

In addition, we may contact position holders – where a notified NSP remains open over a long period of time but appears no longer valid – to verify its status and maintain the accuracy of the ANSP reports.

Where a position is no longer valid, we’ll ask the position holder to submit a notification to close it. Where no response is received within a reasonable period and the position cannot be verified, we may close the position by submitting a 0% notification in ESS on the position holder’s behalf. The position holder records on ESS will be updated and we’ll confirm this action. The position holder will retain access to the notification and may delete it if required.

See SSR 6 for more information[5] on how we calculate, verify and publish ANSPs.

Public individual disclosures under the previous regime

Find the archived version of the public individual NSP reported to us[6] under the previous regime.

SSR obligations overview

Under the SSR, position holders must:

• Calculate NSPs in shares in the shares of companies identified in the RSL.
• Notify us when NSPs reach, exceed or fall below a reporting threshold within the required deadlines.
• Comply with covering requirements for short sales in shares on the RSL.
• Maintain records of notifiable NSPs for 5 years and provide us with related information on request (SSR 2.19[7]).
   

Reportable Shares List (RSL)

The RSL identifies shares admitted to UK trading venues that are in scope of the UK SSR.

Determination of the RSL

As explained in SSR 4.2[8], we use these criteria to determine whether an admitted shares must be included on the RSL:

• Whether the principal country of the admitted share is the UK.
• Whether the admitted share is of significant importance to the UK market.
• Where relevant, whether a third country’s rules already achieve a similar outcome.

To determine the principal country of an admitted share we measure the trading volume of that share over the previous 2 years.

Publication, reviews and updates

We publish the RSL in CSV[9] and XLSX[10] formats. In accordance with SSR 4.3[11], we review and update the RSL:

• Every 2 years – a full review of all shares in scope (first working day of April).
• Monthly – routine updates on new admitted and removed shares (first working day, by 12.00).
• Ad hoc – updates in exceptional circumstances. If we make an ad hoc update, we will proactively notify reporting firms.

If you believe a share should be included in, or removed from the RSL, contact us before submitting a notification via email to [email protected].

Scope and reliance

You may rely on the RSL to identify:

• Companies whose shares are subject to position reporting (SSR 2[12]).
• Shares subject to covering requirements (SSR 3[13]).
• The main class of share under which the net short positions must be aggregated and reported, where a company has more than one class of share on the RSL.

The RSL can be relied on exclusively to identify:

• The companies in relation to whose issued share capital the position reporting requirements apply.
• Shares issued by a company that are admitted to trading on UK trading venues.

The RSL will not identify shares issued by companies that are not admitted to trading on UK trading venues, or any trading venues, but remain part of a company’s issued share capital.

Changes affecting the RSL

Where a share is added to the RSL:

• Reporting and covering requirements apply from the date the share is added to the RSL.
• Any existing net short position (NSP) in shares added to the RSL must be assessed and, where relevant, notified, using the date it was added to the RSL as position date, even if the position was established earlier.

Where a share is removed from the RSL:

• Reporting and covering requirements stop from the date of removal.
• Previously reported positions become historical from that date and are moved to the historical ANSP.
• No closing notification is required.

Where a share is removed and subsequently re-added to the RSL:

• A new notification is required, even if the position is unchanged, as the position became historical when the share was removed.

Where the main class of share (ISIN) identified on the RSL is incorrect or outdated:

• Continue reporting using the ISIN identified as ‘main’ for the company until we update the RSL.
• Notify us of the issue.

Position reporting

This is covered in SSR 2[13].

When notifications are required (SSR 2.3[14])

You must notify us:

• When your NSP reaches or exceeds 0.2% of a company’s issued share capital.
• Each time your NSP increases or decreases through 0.1 percentage point increments (for example, 0.3%, 0.4%).

Calculating your NSP

You must calculate your net short position in line with the UK SSR (SSR 2.8[15]).

An NSP:

• Is the difference between a short position and a long position in a company, if the short position exceeds the long position.
• Includes all short positions in shares and financial instruments that provide a financial advantage where the price decreases (see SSR 2.12[16] and 2.14[19]).
• Includes all long positions in the same company, including instruments that provide a financial advantage where the price increases (see SSR 2.13[17] and 2.14[18]).
• Includes direct and indirect exposures including ETFs, indices and baskets (see SSR 2.17[19]).
• Is calculated on a delta-adjusted basis for relevant instruments (see SSR 2.18[20]).
• Is expressed as a percentage of the company’s issued share capital (see SSR 2.10[21]).

Issued share capital

This is covered in SSR 2.11[22].

Your NSP must be calculated as a percentage of the issued share capital of a company, including all ordinary and preference shares in issue, excluding convertible debt instruments.

All share classes in a company must be included and aggregated.

You should use reliable, publicly available information and take a reasonable approach to ensure the figure is accurate at the time of calculation, updating it where necessary.

Read SSR 2.11[26] for ways to calculate issued share capital. Under certain circumstances, you could use information disclosed by a company under DTR 5.6.1[23] or DTR 5.6.1A[28].

Changes to issued share capital take effect from the date of issue and may affect your reporting obligations.

Timing for NSPs calculation

This is covered in SSR 2.9[24].

Positions must be calculated for each working day, based on the position held at midnight, using issued share capital data available at that time. You don’t need to perform the calculation at midnight.

Position date

The position date is the date a reportable position was created, changed, or ceased to be held.

Where a company has been newly added to the RSL, and the position was established before that date, the position date should be when the company was added to the list.

Reporting deadline 

This is covered in SSR 2.7[25].

You must submit a notification by 23:59 on the working day after the reporting obligation is triggered (T+1).

Notifications received after the deadline will be deemed late. We may take supervisory or enforcement action on the person subject to the notification requirement (SSR 2.7.3 G[31]).

Record retention

This is covered in SSR 2.19[8].

You must maintain records of the gross positions which make up notifiable NSPs for 5 years and provide us with related information on request.

Group reporting

This is covered in SSR 2.16[26].

NSPs must be calculated at both group and individual entity level as follows:

• A notification is required where an NSP reaches or exceeds 0.2%.
  • Where the threshold is met at group level, a group notification must be submitted with 'position is reported on behalf of a group' selected in the Position Group Reporting field.
  • Where the threshold is met only at entity level, an entity notification must be submitted with 'N/A' selected in the Position Group Reporting field.
• Where a group position reaches or exceeds 0.2% and an individual entity position is now being aggregated and reported as part of that group position, 2 notifications are required: 
  • A group notification with 'position is reported on behalf of a group' selected in the Position Group Reporting field.
  • An entity notification with 'position reporting exemption applies because group reporting is in effect' selected in the Position Group Reporting field.

Selecting 'position reporting exemption applies because group reporting is in effect' indicates that the individual entity position is now being reported through the group position. The system will automatically set the individual entity position to 0% to prevent duplicate reporting and double-counting.

• Where a previously reported group position falls below 0.2%, but an individual entity holds a position of 0.2% or above, 2 notifications are required:
  • A group notification to report the fall below the threshold, with 'position is reported on behalf of a group' selected in the Position Group Reporting field.
  • An entity notification with 'N/A' selected in the Position Group Reporting field.

Group and entity NSPs must be submitted under separate Position Holder IDs on the ESS portal. Where a group position is reportable, the group must be registered as a separate Position Holder and submit notifications under its own Position Holder ID. For further information on group reporting, section 6.2.1. 'Submit a new SSR Notification' of our ESS user guide[27].

Management and non-management positions 

This is covered in SSR 2.15[28].

These positions must be:

• Calculated separately.
• Reported on the ESS portal under separate Position Holder IDs.

Submitting notifications via ESS

NSP notifications are submitted via ESS[29].

To submit notifications, you must register:

• For ESS access: see ESS user guide[35] section 1 ‘Accessing the system’.
• As a reporting person on behalf of a Position Holder by submitting the relevant SSR registration case and required documentation, see ESS user guide[38] section 6.1’Registration (SSR and DTR 5)’.

Once registered, you can submit:

• New NSP notifications.
• Corrections to amend previous notifications.
• Deletions to withdraw notifications submitted in error.

See ESS user guide[39] section 6.2 'Short Selling Notifications'.
 

SSR exemptions and waivers

More information on Exemptions and waivers from short selling requirements[27].
 

Guidance requests or queries on SSR

You can request guidance in writing and on a named basis only. Email [email protected], with the subject line ‘Request for guidance: SSR’.

Contact [email protected] to ask questions about our ANSP disclosures. We cannot disclose information on individual positions.