SEEKING STABILITY: Securities and Futures Bureau Deputy Director Sam Chang said that the market ‘appeared irrational,’ but it was not as ‘crazy’ as it was in 2008

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 20, 2020 
By: Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporter

The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday announced a short-selling ban on the

Taiwan Stock Exchange and the Taipei Exchange (TPEX), starting today, as it attempts to curb speculative trading amid “irrational declines on the stock market.”

Unlike previous bans imposed in 1998, 2008 and 2015, which applied to all stocks, this ban applies only to stocks that showed a decline of 3.5 percent or more a day earlier, Securities and Futures Bureau Deputy Director Sam Chang (張振山) told a news conference in New Taipei City.

The TAIEX fell 5.83 percent and the TPEX dropped 7.53 percent yesterday, and 1,233 stocks on the two boards reported declines of more than 3.5 percent, the commission’s data showed.

Tech heavyweights Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) and Largan Precision Co (大立光) fell 3.69 percent and 9.72 percent respectively.    [FULL  STORY]