The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission doesn’t plan to take action to stem short sales after four European countries banned the practice, a spokesman said.

“We do not intend to further restrict short sales, as the commission already has in place restrictions on short selling that are triggered when a stock is experiencing significant downward price pressures,” SEC spokesman John Nester said in an e-mailed statement today.

France, Spain, Italy and Belgium yesterday announced a ban on short sales -- bets that a security will decline in value -- in a bid to stem a drop in financial stocks. The SEC prohibited short sales for three weeks in September 2008 as the financial crisis deepened.

Nester said that the commission also has rules in place that restrict abusive short selling, including curbs on “naked” sales and rules addressing failures to deliver by trade settlement dates, according to the statement.