Eurozone Concerns: Bafin's Ban and its Implications for the FX and the Eurozone

Euro setting new lows, falling further (1.2163) as Germany bans short-selling - reason given was bond volatility and also widening of credit spreads. Bafin's (German regulator) doesn't German firms in the UK (e.g. Deutsche Bank London won't be affected according to the WSJ).

But what did the short-selling ban really mean? It covered shares, mainly of financial companies (e.g. Allianz), but not futures or long puts (arguably insurance, rather than short-selling). It also covered naked short-selling of euro-zone country debt, and naked sovereign CDS for Eurozone i.e. not for hedging of default risk.

Note to the curious: the Ba in BaFin stands for Bundesanstalt (Federal Agency) and Fin stands for Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (Finanicial Services Supervision).