Motilal Oswal bars intraday shorts in non-F&O stocks

Leading financial services firm Motilal Oswal Financial Services will bar its clients from taking intraday short-selling positions on stocks that are not part of the futures and options (F&O) segment from Monday.

- Ram Sahgal & Ranjani Raghavan

Motilal Oswal Financial Services, with 10.3 lakh clients at the end of January, is the first large brokerage to undertake such a move at a time when the markets have been battered for five straight months.

Short-selling involves selling shares one doesn't own at the time of the transaction.

The development comes even as the Sebi-constituted Industry Standards Forum, comprising exchanges, brokers and other stakeholders, is seeking greater clarity on a regulatory circular on short-selling issued last year, a broker said on the condition of anonymity.