US hedge fund manager Philip Falcone has built up a €208m short position in Britain's second largest retail bank Santander.
Falcone has been heavily criticised in recent months for making huge profits on a near 4% short position in beleaguered UK bank HBOS, through his Harbinger Capital vehicle. Santander – owner of Abbey, Alliance & Leicester and Bradford & Bingley’s savings division in the UK – is able to be shorted as Spain has no ban on short selling financials. Falcone has also taken a near €365m bet on Spain's next two largest banks, BBVA and Banco Popular. The Spanish Government has today set aside €100bn to guarantee inter-bank lending, in a coordinated European effort to revive ailing financial insti...
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