Short sellers have made almost $2 billion in profits from betting against the European banking sector so far. And, perhaps surprisingly, Credit Suisse is not the most profitable. However, the largest French bank BNP Paribas topped the list, generating $357 million in (yet unrealized) profits for short sellers in March in total dollar-value terms, according to stock market data provider S3 Partners at midnight on March 15. when stocks fall. They borrow shares to immediately sell with plans to buy back later when the price is lower, making a profit from the difference. The table below shows five of the most profitable banking trades for short-sellers in March: Shares of the world’s banks began to decline in fear of contagion in light of the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank last week. Concerns grew in Europe on Wednesday as Credit Suisse shares fell 24% – their biggest daily loss. As a result, short-seller bets against Credit Suisse rose to $238.6 million in unrealized profits for the month by midday trading on Friday, according to S3 Partners. However, the data shows that Credit Suisse – Switzerland’s second largest lender – did not make the shortlist of the five European Banks. BNP Paribas remains the biggest target for short-sellers, with $ 3.1 billion in total wagers expected shares to fall. Its shares have fallen 20% so far in March, making it one of the biggest losers among big banks in the Stoxx Europe 600 Banks Index. The table below shows the biggest shorts in the European banking sector: Italy’s two biggest lenders, Intesa Sanpaolo and Unicredit, were the second and third biggest targets for short-sellers, together attracting nearly $2.5 billion in bets on people – that person. Spain’s Banco Santander and Hong Kong-listed shares of HSBC Holdings were rounded up. Bets against the European banking sector have ramped up in the past month, increasing $ 5.42 billion. Short sellers raised their bets by $1.3 billion against Unicredit over the past 30 days. The table below shows which European lenders experienced the largest increase in shorts over the past 30 days. This potentially profitable trade is not always a good bet for short sellers. In fact, on a year-to-date basis, bets on European banks were nursing unrealized losses of $1 billion in total short interest of nearly $20 billion in total, according to Ihor Dusaniwsky, managing director at S3 Partners. “But in March, we have seen a reversal of fortunes with European Bank shorts up $1.89 billion in mark-to-market profit month to date, up +8.04% with average short interest of $23.52 billion,” he said. email to CNBC Pro. Hedge funds, many of which have short positions, also suffered significant losses in their portfolios elsewhere due to large short-term movements in equity and bond prices. Strategists at Swiss investment bank UBS said many of the funds were flat until last week’s market turmoil, but quickly lost more than 4% in total value. As a result, UBS said in a note to clients on March 15 that many of those funds “reduced long positions in equities, selling $25-30 [billion] worth of shares since the announcement of SVB fell.