What is the ruling on selling losing shares to a needy person at their cost price on credit, so that he can sell them for cash and benefit from the price difference?

It is not permissible to buy or sell bank shares because banks deal with usury (riba), which is the exchange of money for money without the condition of equality and immediate possession. Furthermore, they are usurious institutions, and it is not permissible to cooperate with them, as Allah Almighty says: "And cooperate in righteousness and piety, but do not cooperate in sin and aggression" (Quran 5:2), and as indicated in the hadith (definition) that curses the one who consumes usury, the one who feeds it, its scribe, and its two witnesses.

An exception to this is the sale of bank shares if their money, or most of it, has been converted into commodities or fixed assets, thereby becoming akin to commodities. Similarly, shares of industrial or commercial companies may be sold for cash or on credit.