This petition is in response to Bursa Malaysia Bhd’s (Bursa) CEO Datuk Muhamad Umar Swift’s comment on 2 February 2021 that Bursa has no plans on banning regulated short selling (RSS) again. The ban on intraday short selling (IDSS) and intraday short selling by proprietary day trading (PDT Short Selling) are currently set to expire on 28 February 2021.

The unhealthy practice of RSS and IDSS have investors selling what they do not have, which escalate the market downturn and volatility during the Covid-19 pandemic, affects heavily on retailers who do not short sell.

Retailers have less of an appetite to sell below their investment’s intrinsic value, but for short sellers, they are motivated to pressure the share price for the sake of their profit. Without RSS and IDSS suspension mechanism, short selling will exacerbate the fall in a volatile market.

The temporary suspension on RSS activities was lifted from 1 January 2021, with the enhanced control measures to ensure stability and maintain investor confidence.

The trading week of 2021 has been a volatile one for Bursa. Across the stock market, decliners have been thrashing advancers each day.

Bursa have the duty and responsibility to ensure a true and fair and regulated market, to ensure market participants cannot abuse and manipulate the market. If action is not taken, retailers will be hurt by the RSS and IDSS. It is time for Bursa to do their part to stop this decline.