Greece's HDAT to hold repo auctions to cover shorts

LONDON, April 8 (Reuters) - Greece's HDAT trading system on Thursday told primary dealers in Greek government debt that it would hold repurchase auctions at the end of each trading day to ensure short positions were covered, according to a document obtained by Reuters.

The move, which was decided on Thursday and would stay in place until further notice, was a response to the scale of open short positions on Greek government bonds, the document said.

"Due to massive debit position in HDAT transactions, the Committee of Primary Dealers Supervision and Control decided as of today and until further notice to automatically proceed to repo auctions, at the end of HDAT trading day, in order to cover all transactions with such debit positions," it said.

(Reporting by Emelia Sithole-Matarise in London, Dina Kyriakidou in Athens) Email: emelia.sithole@thomsonreuters.com; +44 20 7542 6752))