Lede

Short sellers made over $7 billion in profit from the mass sell-off of bank shares in March, the largest gain since the 2008 financial crisis.

Summary

• Data firm Ortex reported short sellers made over $7 billion in unrealized gains during March due to the global banking sector's chaotic month
• Short selling is the practice of borrowing an asset and selling it, hoping to buy it back at a lower price and profit from the decline in its value
• Hedge funds shorting bank stocks made over $7.25 billion in unrealized gains, making March the single most profitable month for short sellers in the banking sector since the 2008 financial crash
• SVB's collapse saw those with short bets against the bank topping the pile with unrealized profits of more than $1.32 billion, and First Republic netting short sellers almost $848 million as its shares sank 89% over the month
• Credit Suisse's emergency rescue made those with short positions against the bank's Swiss-listed stock around $610 million in unrealized profit in March, with a combined $683.6 million generated from shorts on both its Swiss- and US-listed shares
• Deutsche Bank also yielded an unrealized $39.9 million for short sellers in March, with 5% of the bank's free-float shares currently shorted according to Ortex estimates