CAIRO: Ahmed Saad Abd El-Latif, the chairman of the Capital Market Authority (CMA), approved on Wednesday the new amendments on short-selling, which enable investors to sell borrowed shares, reported Al Mal newspaper. The amendment will result in setting up a special fund for lending shares to investors. The new fund will operate under the supervision of Misr Clearance and Settlement Company. Investors will also be required to settle their accounts and buy back the borrowed shares to cover their short positions within two days, according to a statement from Beltone Financial. The CMA required brokerage firms, which may conduct short-selling transactions, to deposit LE 5 million for securities denominated in local currency, and $700,000 for dollar-denominated shares, to cover the risk of defaults, continued the statement. The CMA also approved the National Bank of Kuwait's request to buy the remaining 2 percent free float of Al Watany Bank of Egypt (AWB), at LE 77.01 per share. NBK had previously acquired 98.1 percent of AWB.
