As of 1 November 2012 Regulation (EU) No 236/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 March 2012 on short selling and certain aspects of credit default swaps (SSR) is directly applicable in the Czech Republic. SSR requires investors to provide notifications of net short positions to competent authorities. Czech National Bank has to be notified of net short positions in shares and Czech sovereign debt.
Private notification
CNB should be notified where the net short position in shares reaches or falls below 0,1 % of the issued share capital of the company concerned. Notification should also be submitted for each 0,1 % above the minimum threshold.
CNB should be also notified of net short positions in Czech sovereign debt and uncovered positions in Czech sovereign credit default swaps. European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published a list of the different thresholds for each Member State in these instruments.
NOTE: The thresholds valid as of 1 May 2023 are still 0,1 % (515 million euros) and 0,05 % (257 million euros). The change to 0,5 % and 0,25 % will come into effect on 1 February 2024 provided that the total amount of Czech republic’s outstanding sovereign debt remains above 500 billion euros for the rest of the year 2023 (this threshold was first crossed in 1Q 2023).
Notifications to the CNB must be made through its Internet application Collection of information and registration of entities(Supported browser: Internet Explorer 7 and newer). If you are a person making a private notification fill in first name, last name and email address (a confirmation of the notification acceptance is emailed to the address including notification ID which shall be stored for future use) and log in as "Unregistered user". Choose "Notification of a net short position" and in the first box "Report type" select: (1) "New net short position" for the first notification of a certain position; (2) "Changed net short position" for a change of previously notified position (increase or decrease of the position) which requires you to enter ID of the previous notification – however once the position falls below the minimal threshold of 0,1 % of the issued share capital of the company concerned, any subsequent notifiable position shall be notified again by following steps (1) and (2). After filling in all the required boxes save the notification. When pressing the "Save" button it is possible to sign the notification with an advanced electronic signature based on a qualified certificate (use the "OK" button for that option) – electronically signed notification is complete. If a person is not in possession of an advanced electronic signature based on a qualified certificate, it is necessary to only save the notification (use the "Cancel" button for that option). In such a case the notification needs to be supplemented by emailing a scanned copy of a completed and signed notification form (xls, 72 kB) to shortselling@cnb.cz .
Cancellation of an erroneous notification is also made through the Internet application. A person making the cancellation logs in in the same way as described above and chooses "Cancelled net short position" in the "Report type" box. It is not required to supplement the cancellation of an erroneous notification regardless of the saving option (whether electronically signed or not).
Public dislosure of net short positions in shares
A net short position in shares which reaches or falls below 0,5 % of the issued share capital of the company concerned and each 0,1 % above that will be published by CNB on its website through the Internet application Information on Short Position.
Public disclosure notification is made in the same way as described above. However, if a person is not in possession of an advanced electronic signature based on a qualified certificate to sign the public disclosure notification electronically, a registration of the position holder is required for the purpose of public disclosure. The registration must be made with the first public disclosure notification at the latest by emailing a scanned copy of a completed and signed registration form (xls, 70 kB) together with any applicable documentation to shortselling@cnb.cz . CNB will confirm the completion of the registration by email. Any public disclosure may be delayed until the completion of the registration.