International Herald Tribune – U.S. hedge fund Harbinger Capital is the first company to declare a short position in HSBC following the bank’s record rights issue, after making millions from a similar tactic with UK bank HBOS last year.
Harbinger said in a regulatory filing it has taken a 0.26 percent short position in HSBC’s London shares, worth about 110 million pounds. By 9:10 a.m. the shares were up 2.5 percent at 356 pence.
Harbinger has also unveiled a series of short positions in Spanish banks in recent weeks, including a short position of 1 percent in BBVA and 0.4 percent in Santander.