At this point, 20 hedge funds – including JP Morgan Securities and Quantum Partners – moved in to do what they always do: speculate to make money. They sold Greek bank shares short, spreading doubt about the resilience of Greece’s banking sector. Out of fear of an economic collapse, the Greek financial services authority (the Hellenic Capital Market Commission, HCMC) stepped in to stop them, handing out fines to all 20 from €10,000 to €460,000.
In response, the financial lobby is now trying to avoid a repetition. The hedge funds’ lobby group AIMA (Alternative Investment Management Association) is now trying to blow a hole in the EU rules on “short selling” so they can escape similar blocks and sanctions in the future. This can be seen from documents obtained by Corporate Europe Observatory from the EU financial regulation agency ESMA (European Securities and Markets Authority).