The Royal Exchange was founded by Thomas Gresham and opened by Elizabeth I in 1571. In 1698 stock traders were evicted from the old trading center known as The Royal Exchange because of their scuffle. A broker named John Casting began publishing a list of stock and commodity prices. Jonathan’s coffeehouse on Change Alley became the focal point for stockbrokers to operate from. After around 20 years of stock market madness, the bubble burst and share prices began to fall. Parliament passed the Bubble Act, which said only royal chartered corporations could issue public stock, but bad luck hit stockbrokers when a Change Alley fire destroyed most of the coffeehouses in 1748. However, in 1761 these were rebuilt and a group of 150 brokers and jobbers formed a club to buy and sell shares.
By 1773 the brokers erected their own building in Sweeting’s Alley, which soon became known as The Stock Exchange. The modern stock exchange was born on March 3, 1801, when a regulated stock exchange emerged for the first time on a formal membership basis. The Exchange moved to a new building in Capel Court and a few years later, in 1812, the first codified set of rules was drawn up. In 1854 the stock exchange was rebuilt. In 1876 a new charter for the stock exchange came into effect.
The stock exchange had to be closed at the end of July 1914 due to the war. it was reopened in the new year. At the same time, the Royal Fusiliers Exchange Battalion was formed. 1600 volunteered, 400 never returned. In 1923 the stock exchange received its own coat of arms with the motto “Dictum Meum Pactum” which means “My word is my covenant”.
In 1972 the Queen Elizabeth II opened the new 26-storey office building and in 1973 the first female member was admitted to the market, also the 11 British and Irish regional stock exchanges merged with the London Stock Exchange.
In 1986, the deregulation of the market known as the Big Bang came into effect. In 1991 the trading name became The LS E. In 1995 AIM was launched for growing businesses in the international market.
1997 SENTENCES [Stock Exchange Electronic Trading Services] was launched to bring more speed and efficiency to the market. The Crest Settlement Service was also introduced in 2000. The LSE was converted into a public limited company.
In 2003 EDX London was formed, a new international equity derivatives company in partnership with Om Group and a new generation real-time market data and systems provider called Proquote Limited was acquired by the Exchange.
In 2004, the LSE moved to its new headquarters in Paternoster Square. In 2007, the LSE merged with Borsa Italiana.
Thanks to Anil V Saigal | #History #London #Stock #Exchange
