Major milestones on way to modern stock markets
Setting out to map the major milestones affecting the development of stock markets since the start of the 17th century is to go on a rollercoaster ride through history.
First publicly traded company
1602 Amsterdam Stock Exchange becomes the first known stock exchange as we would recognise one today. The Dutch East India Company is established as a chartered company (a chartered company is a company owned by investors or shareholders).
It is popularly regarded as the world's first publicly traded company. It is also known as the VOC (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie). It sported what is possibly the world's first corporate logo, a capital letter 'V' with an 'O' to the left and a 'C' to the right.
1605 The German word Börse (the equivalent of the French bourse) is documented in writing for the first time as a designation for the meeting of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, which traces its ultimate roots to Assmption Day in 1150.
1668 Sveriges Riksbank, also known as the Bank of Sweden, is founded, making it the world's first central bank.
1688 The book Confusions of Confusions by Joseph de La Vega is the earliest known book about stock market trading.
1694 The Bank of England is established, by Scottish entrepreneur, William Paterson. It began life as a private sector company.
First big bubble
1711 The South Sea Company is set up to enable British trade with South America. Demand for its stock is intense. This leads to the irrational market phenomenon known simply as the South Sea Bubble.
1720 South Sea Bubble bursts. UK parliament passes the Bubble Act. This meant only royal chartered companies could issue public shares.
1771 Founding of Wiener Börse AG (Vienna Stock Exchange).
1773 Boston Tea Party protest against British taxation without representation practice, paving the way for revolution.
1776 American Declaration of Independence represents the culmination of that revolution.
1790 Philadelphia Stock Exchange launched as the Board of Brokers of Philadelphia.
1791 First Bank of the United States chartered.
1792 Butonwood Agreement signed by 24 stockbrokers under a Buttonwood tree outside 68 Wall Street creates the New York Stock Exchange & Board.
New century new moves
1800 Dutch East India Company nationalised. Banque de France founded.
1801 London Stock Exchange officially launched.
1811 First Bank of the United States 20-year charter not renewed.
1816 Second Bank of the United States chartered.
1825 Companies allowed to issue shares on London Stock Exchange.
1836 Second Bank of the United States 20-year charter not renewed.
1863 The New York Stock Exchange & Board is renamed New York Stock Exchange. Stockholm Stock Exchange is founded.
1861 Toronto Stock Exchange launches in Canada.
1878 Floor trading begins at the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
1886 Charles Dow creates his first average of industrial stocks, the forerunner to what is now the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
1891 The Association of Stockbrokers in Hong Kong established.
From Crash to Crash
1913 US Federal Reserve created as the US central bank.
1929 Black Tuesday, 29 October: Wall Street Crash marks the start of what came to be known as The Great Depression.
1935 Launch of the FT30 index.
1946 Bank of England nationalised.
1957 The German Federal Bank, Deutsche Bundesbank, is founded. Launch of S&P500 Index.
1971 US effectively ends the Bretton Woods system that has defined the international monetary system since its creation in 1944. NASDAQ Stock Exchange is created by the National Association of Securities Dealers and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
1973-74 Stock market crash hits the UK particularly hard. FT 30 Index loses nearly three-quarters of its value. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by almost half. Secondary bank crisis in the UK forces Bank of England to launch its famous lifeboat rescue.
1979 The forerunner to the European Exchange Rate Mechanism comes into being; the UK pound stays out.
1982 The London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange (LIFFE) is launched.
1983 Launch of AEX-Index in Amsterdam.
1984 Launch of FTSE100 Index.
1985 Launch of NASDAQ100 Index.
1986 Big Bang in London deregulates and restructures the City and its financial markets overnight in October of that year.
1987 Black Monday,19 October; stock markets crash around the world.
1988 Launch of the DAX30 (Deutscher AktienIndex) in Frankfurt and the CAC 40 in Paris.
1990 The UK government enters the pound into the European Exchange Rate Mechanism. Shanghai Stock Exchange founded. Iraq invades Kuwait. Oil price rises. Short recession follows.
1991 ATX Index launched in Vienna. Launch of the BEL20 index in Brussels.
1992 Black Wednesday, 16 September; Britain leaves the European Exchange Rate Mechanism. Inauguration of IBEX35, the official index of the 35 most liquid stocks on the Spanish market. Launch of PSI-20 (Portuguese Stock Index) in Lisbon.
1997 Economic crisis in Asia. International Monetary Fund steps in.
1998 Treaty of Amsterdam establishes European Central Bank, headquartered in Frankfurt. Futures Exchange OM acquires Stockholm Stock Exchange.
2000 Dotcom bubble bursts. NASDAQ sees nearly a trillion dollars of stock value evaporate. Germany's Deutsche Boerse AG and the UK's London Stock Exchange Group announce controversial plans to merge and create a new entity to be called iX.
Life goes on
2001 The attack of 11 September on the twin towers in New York hits stock markets.
2003 Helsinki Stock Exchange merges with OM to form OMX.
2006 Launch of OMX Nordic Exchange brand (Stockholm, Helsinki and Copenhagen).
2007 NYSE merges with Euronext; the successor to the Philadelphia Stock Exchange is bought by NASDAQ, which also acquires OMX to form NASDAQ OMX Group.
2008 Stock market crash heralds the latest global financial crisis.
2010 Flash crash causes US stock indices to fall but recovery takes just over half an hour.
2016 Germany's Deutsche Boerse AG and the UK's London Stock Exchange Group announce controversial plans to merge. A majority of the UK electorate who cast their vote unexpectedly vote to leave the European Union. Stock markets fall by more than US$2 trillion the day after the shock.
2017 European Commission blocks Deutsche Boerse AG and LSEG merger plans.
Stock Exchange, list thyself
The following are amongst those stock exchanges that have listed their own shares.
- Australian Securities Exchange
- Euronext
- NASDAQ
- Bursa Malaysia
- New York Stock Exchange
- London Stock Exchange
Related stories
- Animals to equity: stock market histories of the world
Top ten stock exchanges of the world
- New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
- NASDAQ (originally the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation exchange)
- London Stock Exchange (LSE)
- Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE)
- Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE)
- Hong Kong Stock Exchange (SEHK)
- Euronext
- Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE)
- Toronto Stock Exchange (TMX)
- Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FWB)