Yesterday, German officials announced a plan to prohibit naked short selling of shares in Euro-denominated government bonds and swaps, and some 10 German financial institutions, considered by many to be high-risk transactions. Subsequently, the common currency Euro slipped versus the safe-haven greenback to its lowest price in 4 years. As reported at 2:29 p.m. (JST) in Tokyo, the Euro was trading against the U.S. Dollar at $1.2193, a loss of .1%; earlier, on the EBS trading platform, it had traded at $1.2143, the lowest level in more than 4 years. This year alone, the Euro has lost nearly 15% of its value versus the U.S. Dollar.