Campaigners say financiers should face a windfall tax on any short-selling profits.
Tax Justice Network’s Alex Cobham called for firms to pay “at least 50% to 75% of their excess returns in tax, to support the health service and other vital public functions.”
Investors make money shorting by borrowing shares and selling them in the hope of buying them back at a lower price later. They often also hold long positions in other assets, using long and short positions to hedge their bets.
High Pay Centre’s Luke Hildyard said: “You don’t need to be Che Guevara to think an economy that provides such gross rewards for financial speculation, while the people keeping the country going struggle to cover the cost of basic human necessities, is getting something badly wrong and requires serious reform."
