UK Short Selling Regime: What changed on 13 July 2026?

The UK’s new short selling regime came into effect on 13 July 2026, replacing the retained EU Short Selling Regulation (UK SSR) with a new domestic framework comprising the Short Selling Regulations 2025 and the FCA’s Short Selling Sourcebook (SSS).

While the reforms are part of the UK’s broader programme of replacing retained EU legislation with UK-specific rules, the day-to-day reporting obligations for most firms remain largely unchanged.

What changed?

The new framework gives the FCA greater responsibility for setting and maintaining the detailed operating rules for the UK short selling regime. It also introduces a revised approach to the publication of net short positions, with the FCA publishing aggregated short position data rather than disclosing individual firm positions.

Other changes include updates to reporting mechanics and legislative drafting, although these are not expected to create significant operational challenges for most reporting firms.

What does this mean for firms?

For most market participants, the immediate reporting impact is expected to be low. Existing reporting processes should continue to operate with only limited changes.

However, firms should review their governance framework, policies and procedures to ensure they reflect the new UK regime now that it is in force. This is particularly relevant where reporting activities are outsourced or where firms operate across multiple jurisdictions.

Why it matters

Although the operational changes are modest, the reforms represent another step in the UK’s post-Brexit regulatory divergence from the EU.

As UK and EU regulatory frameworks continue to evolve independently, firms subject to both regimes should consider whether their compliance frameworks, reporting controls and governance arrangements are sufficiently flexible to manage future divergence. While this update is unlikely to require major systems changes, it reinforces the importance of maintaining clear ownership of regulatory reporting obligations and keeping compliance documentation up to date.

For full details of the new Short Selling Regime framework, see the FCA’s Policy Statement PS26/5.

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