Sept. 22 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. regulators added more than 90 companies including General Electric Co. and General Motors Corp. to a list of stocks protected against short sales.

The Securities and Exchange Commission today amended its emergency ban on short sales, giving the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. authority to add to a list of 799 companies, according to a statement on the agency's Web site.

In addition to banks that had been omitted from the SEC initial list such as M&T Bank Corp., the Big Board added companies that generate a large portion of their revenue from providing loans. General Electric got about half its profit last year from financial units last year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Edgar Ortega in New York at ebarrales@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: September 22, 2008 08:28 EDT