Short sellers gained more than $7 billion in profit from the sell-off of bank shares at the end of March. Short sellers borrow shares of a stock and sell them back later at a lower price. If the price goes down, short sellers return the borrowed shares and make a profit. Bets against the defunct Silicon Valley Bank totaled more than $1.32 billion. Short sellers gained net profits of $848 million from First Republic Bank ($FRC@US) as those shares plummeted 89 percent by the end of the month. Shorts on both Swiss- and U.S.-listed shares for Credit Suisse gained a combined $683.6 million. Deutsche Bank shares slid, even though it was not at risk of collapsing. Short sellers gained $39.9 million for Deutsche shares’ decline.
