The Dutch financial services regulator AFM on Sunday announced further measures to bolster the shares of banks and insurance companies.

As from Monday the ban on naked short selling announced on 21 September will be replaced by a new ban on increasing a short position, both covered and naked, in financial companies.
The AFM said it has taken the move ‘in view of the persistently exceptional market conditions’.
According to news agency Reuters the ban will last for 30 days and applies to the same eight financial institutions as the initial ban two weeks ago which includes Aegon, ING, Fortis and BinckBank.
The new stricter ban includes trading in derivatives, says the Financieele Dagblad.
The new Dutch regulation has been formulated to be in line with British measures because of strong similarities between the derivative markets in London and Amsterdam, the paper says.
Clayton Heijman of the Dutch hedge funds’ association Aima dismisses the new AFM move. He tells the Financieele Dagblad that it is as ineffective because it only tackles the symptoms rather than the root of the problem and says the last ban had ‘absolutely no noticeable effect’ on the market.