Oct. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong’s Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau said it will work with the city’s regulator to introduce legislation “as soon as possible” that will improve on the reporting of securities short-selling.

The treasury will also liaise with the Securities and Futures Commission and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority to “ensure effective implementation” of existing rules, it said in an e-mailed statement in response to questions.

Hong Kong doesn’t plan to ban short selling of securities, K.C. Chan, Hong Kong’s secretary for financial services and treasury, told reporters on Oct. 6. Seven brokerage bodies, including the Institute of Securities Dealers and the Hong Kong Securities Association, called for a ban on short selling after a slide in the benchmark index in the former British colony.

Short selling in Hong Kong climbed to the highest level in 12 years, with bets on declines reaching HK$12.8 billion ($1.6 billion) on Sept. 30, or 14 percent of the total value traded on Hong Kong’s stock market, according to data compiled by the city’s exchange.

--Editor: Hwee Ann Tan

To contact the reporter on this story: Kana Nishizawa in Hong Kong at knishizawa5@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Gentle at ngentle2@bloomberg.net