Hedge funds are betting on a major drop in the price of Close Brothers amid wider fears about global banking.
The British merchant banker has been hit by a flurry of short-selling since a ‘challenging’ set of results in March, just days after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.
Short positions make up just over 6 per cent of stock in Close Brothers, or almost £90 million, S&P Market Intelligence says.
Fear: Close Brothers has been hit by a flurry of short-selling since a ‘challenging’ set of results
This is far greater than at any other major UK bank, including Barclays, Lloyds and NatWest, which each have short positions against them of less than one per cent.
Close Brothers has 4,000 employees, mostly in the UK and Ireland.
The bank, which was founded in 1878, is worth about £1.4 billion – a fraction of the value of London-listed rivals such as Lloyds, worth more than £30 billion, and Barclays, valued at £24 billion.
Close Brothers declined to comment.
