Irish regulator: bank short selling ban in place

DUBLIN Jan 20 (Reuters) - Ireland's financial regulator said on Tuesday its ban on short-selling bank shares remained in place, and asked traders to disregard a report to the contrary.

"The Financial Regulator has cautioned market participants not to rely on incorrect information on Bloomberg screens regarding short selling in Irish Bank shares," the regulator said in a statement, without giving further details.

No one at Bloomberg was available for comment.

On Friday Britain ended its ban on short selling -- which is selling borrowed stock in the hope of repaying the loan at a profit by buying the shares back at a cheaper price -- for financial stocks.

"The Financial Regulator confirmed that the ban remains in place on taking short selling positions, whether through shares or ADRs of Bank of Ireland (BKIR.I), Allied Irish Banks (ALBK.I) and Irish Life and Permanent (IPM.I) in London and other international trading venues as well as in Dublin," the Irish regulator said.

Shares in Allied Irish Banks and Bank of Ireland hit fresh record lows on Tuesday, adding to Monday's heavy losses, over investor concerns after last week's decision to nationalise Anglo Irish Bank ANGL.I.

Allied Irish Banks traded 50 percent weaker at 0.30 euros by 1211 GMT, while Bank of Ireland was down 7.7 percent at 0.314 euros.

"The Financial Regulator continues to monitor the short selling ban," a spokeswoman added. (Reporting by Andras Gergely, editing by Will Waterman)