The Bank of England

Short-selling was first banned in England in 1697 when Parliament prohibited people from short-selling shares in the Bank of England. The Bank of England was created in 1694, a year after the control of government finances had been handed over to Parliament, as a temporary institution on an 11 year charter which could then be dissolved on a year's notice. In fact the charter was never dissolved but renewed 9 times by Parliament until 1844 when the Bank Charter Act formalised its role as manager of note circulation and separated that role from its general banking business.
The initial 1694 charter of the Bank provided for a loan of £1.2m to the government at an interest rate of 8%, secured on custom and excise duties. In the beginning, it did not enjoy a privileged position as the government's banker, nor were its notes legal tender; its main role was to provide funds for the war against France.
In 1695 Parliament chartered a rival Land Bank which never took off as the capital could not be raised. The idea of this caused such outrage within the Bank of England that it insisted on a rechartering in 1697 which contained the clause, ‘‘no other Bank or Constitution in the nature of a bank be erected or established, permitted or allowed by Act of Parliament during the Continuance of the Bank of England.’’ Bank stock was used as collateral by Parliament to take on other loans and for this reason short-selling of Bank of England shares was banned.