George Soros Made $100M Brexit Bet Against Deutsche Bank — and Won

George Soros Image by Getty Images

By Reuters June 28, 2016

Billionaire investor George Soros took out a bet of more than 100 million euros ($111 million) that Deutsche Bank shares would fall at the time of Britain’s vote to quit the European Union, according to a regulatory filing.

Soros, who is renowned for successfully betting against the pound in 1992, had a “short” position of 0.51 percent or about 7 million Deutsche Bank shares on June 24, the filing shows. There was no record of such a position in the days before.

Deutsche Bank shares have fallen about 17 percent since June 23, the day of the referendum, which could make Soros millions of dollars. However, on Tuesday he still held a short position of 0.46 percent, a separate filing showed.

In short selling trades, investors borrow securities and sell them on, hoping to buy them back at a lower price and book the difference as a profit.

Soros was not immediately available for comment.

Banks across Europe have been battered by Britain’s decision to leave the European Union in a referendum on June 23.

Deutsche Bank, which is undergoing a deep restructuring, has been hamstrung by having to pay out billions of dollars of fines to end a slew of legal disputes. Its shares are down more than 50 percent over the last year.

Soros said on Monday he had not speculated against the British pound in the run-up to the referendum. “In fact, he was long the British Pound leading up to the vote,” a spokesman for Soros said.

Separately, hedge fund Marshall Wace also held a short position in Deutsche Bank of about 0.5 percent on June 24, a filing showed.

German daily Die Welt reported the short positions earlier.

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