Cairo & Alexandria Stock Exchange

Egypt's Stock Exchange (CASE) comprises two exchanges, Cairo and Alexandria, both of which are governed by the same board of directors and share the same trading, clearing and settlement systems. The Alexandria Stock Exchange was officially established in 1883, with Cairo following in 1903.

Both exchanges were very active in the 1940s, and the combined Egyptian Stock Exchange ranked fifth in the world. The central planning and socialist policies adopted in the mid 1950's led to the Stock Exchange's dormancy between 1961 and 1992.

In the 1990s, the Egyptian government's restructuring and economic reform program resulted in the revival of the Egyptian stock market, and a major change in the organisation of the Cairo and Alexandria Stock Exchanges took place in January 1997 with the election of a new board of directors and the establishment of a number of board committees.

Under the chairman at that time, Sherif Raafat, the board of directors determined to modernise the Exchange. Steps taken since then have included:

• creating a coherent organisation structure with clear division of authority and responsibilities
• deciding to install a new state-of-the-art trading, clearing and settling system conforming to international standards (In May 1998 a contract was signed with EFA Software Ltd., a Canadian company, to this end)
• developing new membership and trading rules, and arbitration and dispute resolution procedures
• Planning the improvement of the clearing, settlement and payment systems

By the end of November 1998, these efforts had started to bear fruit and there were 833 listed companies on the Egyptian Stock Exchange with a market capitalization of approximately L.E. 71.3 billion (up from 627 companies listed in 1991 with a market capitalization of L.E. 8.8 billion).

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Channel Islands Stock Exchange

The Channel Islands Stock Exchange (CISX) is a stock exchange operating in St. Peter Port, Guernsey. It was founded as a company limited both by guarantee and by shares. The aim of CISX is to be the premier offshore stock exchange in the European time zone and the Exchange of choice for the listing of investment funds, debt instruments and the shares of companies.

CISX was established in October 1998. Since than, it has experienced rapid growth. It is an integral part of the infrastructure upon which the top tier finance centre of Guernsey relies and offers a service and structure unique in the European time zone.

It provides listing facility and screen-based trading for local and international trading companies, investment companies - both open and closed-ended funds - specialist debt securities and Channel Islands depository receipts (CIDRS). These includes specialist securities, including, Eurobonds, Structured Debt, Warrants and SPVs; and investment funds.

Some of the strengths of CISX are competitive pricing, responsive and approachable market authority that meets daily to consider applications for listings, international standards of issuer regulation, enhanced marketability and added value service, and premier location.

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Brussels Stock Exchange

The Brussels Stock Exchange (BSE) (French: Bourse de Bruxelles, Dutch: Beurs van Brussel) was founded in Brussels, Belgium by Napoleonic decree in 1801. OnSeptember 22, 2000, the BSE merged with Paris Bourse, Lisbon Stock Exchange and the stock exchanges of Amsterdam, to form Euronext N.V., the first pan-Europeanexchange for equities and derivatives, with common trading and clearing of all products, and was renamed Euronext Brussels. The most well known index on the Brussels Stock Exchange is the BEL20.

The Bourse/Beurs of Brussels

The building

The building that houses the Brussels Stock Exchange does not have a distinct name, though it is usually called simply the Bourse. It is located on Anspach Boulevard, and is the namesake of the Beursplein/Place de la Bourse, which is, after the Grand Place, the second most important square in Brussels.

As part of the covering of the river Senne for health and aesthetic reasons in the 1860sand 1870s, a massive program of beautification of the city centre was undertaken. Architect Léon-Pierre Suys, as part of his proposal for covering of the Senne, designed a building to become the centre of the rapidly expanding business sector. It was to be located on the former butter market, (itself situated on the ruins of theformer Recollets Franciscan convent) on the newly created Anspach Boulevard (then called Central Boulevard).

The building was erected from 1868 to 1873, and mixes elements of the Neo-Renaissance and Second Empire architectural styles. It has an abundance of ornaments and sculptures, created by famous artists, including Auguste Rodin.

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Frankfurt Stock Exchange

The Frankfurt Stock Exchange (German: FWB Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse) is a stock exchangelocated in Frankfurt, Germany.

The Frankfurt Stock Exchange is one of the biggest and most efficient exchange places in the world. It is owned and operated by Deutsche Börse, which also owns the European futures exchange Eurexand clearing company Clearstream.

The Frankfurt Stock Exchange has over 90 percent of turnover in the German market and a big share in the European market. Here the Frankfurt Stock Exchange floor trading loses, but in fast developing and expanding electronic trading (Xetra trading system) the FSE gains in European and international trade: partner-exchanges adopted the Xetra (trading system) (as the Vienna Stock Exchange in 1999, the Irish Stock Exchange in 2000 and the Budapest Stock Exchange in 2003); consolidation continues.

Mainly through Xetra, the German stock market has been opened to foreign investors and market participants. About 47% of the 300 market participants in Frankfurt come from abroad.

The trading indices in Frankfurt are DAX, DAXplus, CDAX, DivDAX, LDAX, MDAX, SDAX, TecDAX,VDAX and EuroStoxx 50.

Trading runs from 09:00 to 17:30 with closing auction from 17:30-17:35. In November 2003, Late DAX was introduced running from 17:45 to 20:00 and in 2006 X-DAX was introduced running from 17:45-22:00 (in line with US trading hours).

The Frankfurt Stock Exchange (entrance)

Building in the center of Frankfurt

The bear and the bull in front of the Exchange

History

The origins of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange go back to the 9th century and a free letter by EmperorLouis the German to hold free trade fairs. By the 16th century Frankfurt developed into a wealthy and busy city with an economy based on trade and financial services.

Frankfurt Stock Exchange floor

In 1585 a bourse was established to set up fixed currencyexchange rates. During the following centuries Frankfurt developed into one of the world's first stock exchanges - next toLondon and Paris. Bankers like Mayer Amschel Rothschild andMax Warburg had substantial influence on Frankfurt's financial trade.

In 1874 Frankfurt Stock Exchange moved into its new building at Börsenplatz.

It was only in 1949 after World War II that the Frankfurt Stock Exchange finally established as the leading stock exchange in Germany with consequently incoming national and international investments.

During the 1990s the Frankfurt Stock Exchange was also bourse for the Neuer Markt (German for New Market) as part of the world wide dot-com boom.

In 1993 the Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse (Frankfurt Stock Exchange) became Deutsche Börse AG, operating businesses for the exchange.

From the early 1960s onwards the Frankfurt Stock Exchange took advantage of the close by Bundesbank which effectively decided on financial policies in Europe until the introduction of the euro in 2002. Since then the exchange profits from the presence of the European Central Bank in Frankfurt am Main.

In 2002 and 2004 Deutsche Börse was in advanced negotiations to take over London Stock Exchange, which were broken off in 2005.^[2]

Today, with a total turnover of €5.2 trillion per year the Frankfurt Stock Exchange strengthens its position as the world's 3rd largest trade-place for stocks and the world's 2nd largest by market capitalization.

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Helsinki Stock Exchange

The Helsinki Stock Exchange (Finnish: Helsingin Pörssi, Swedish: Helsingforsbörsen) is a stock exchange located in Helsinki, Finland. Since 3 September 2003 it has been part of OMX, referred to asOMX Helsinki (OMXH). Since NASDAQ's acquisition of OMX in February 2008, the official name of the Helsinki exchange has been NASDAQ OMX Helsinki.

Helsinki, Finland

History

The Helsinki Stock Exchange saw its first transaction on October 7, 1912. From then it remained a "free form" financial association until in 1984 it was converted into a cooperative owned mostly by banks,traders, other companies and associations.

On April 1, 1990 trading was moved to a new digital system: HETI (Helsinki Stock Exchange Automated Trading and Information System, and in Finnish a rough backronym for "immediately"), which replaced the electro-mechanical trading board originally introduced back in 1935. HETI enabled remote traders to do transactions on equal terms with those in the trading room.

The cooperative changed to a limited liability company (Helsingin Arvopaperipörssi) in the fall of 1995 and merged with several clearing and stock deposit companies and associations at the beginning of 1997. During 1997 and 1998 the Stock Exchange bought both of the Finnish derivative exchanges and merged them with itself to become HEX. In November 1998 HEX merged with Arvopaperikeskus to form Helsinki Exchanges Group Plc, which then changed its name to HEX Plc in the spring of 2001. In 2001 and 2002 HEX acquired a majority share of the Tallinn Stock Exchange and the Riga Stock Exchange.

On 3 September 2003, HEX Plc merged with OM AB, owner of the Stockholm Stock Exchange, to become OM HEX. A year later, the company was renamed to OMX.

OMX Helsinki 25 (OMXH25) is a stock market index for the Helsinki Stock Exchange. It is a market value weighted index that consists of the 25 most-traded stock classes. OMXH25 is also known by its old name, HEX25. As of March 2006, there are two exchange-traded funds listed, both are index funds for the OMXH25 index.

On April 2006 the Stock Exchange announced the trading will be done in round lot sizes of one share starting from September 25 2006. Previously trading was done in round lot sizes that varied from listed company to company.

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Hong Kong Stock Exchange

The Hong Kong Stock Exchange (traditional Chinese: 香港交易所, also 港交所 (HKEX), SEHK: 0388) is the stock exchange of Hong Kong. The exchange has predominantly been the main exchange for Hong Kong where shares of listed companies are traded. It is Asia's third largest stock exchange in terms ofmarket capitalization, behind the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the Shanghai Stock Exchange. As of 31 December 2007, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange had 1,241 listed companies with a combined market capitalization of $2.7 trillion.^[1] Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing is the holding company for the exchange.

Hong Kong Exchange Trade Lobby

History

The history of the securities exchange began formally in the late 19th century with the first establishment in 1891, though informal securities exchanges have been known to take place since 1861^[2]. The exchange has predominantly been the main exchange for Hong Kong despite co-existing with other exchanges at different point in time. After a series of complex mergers and acquisitions, HKSE remains to be the core. From 1947 to 1969 the exchange monopolized the market.

Association of Stockbrokers in Hong Kong (Founded 1891)
(1914) Renamed to Hong Kong Stock Exchange
(1947) A merger is made after World War II with Hong Kong Stock Exchange retaining the name		Hong Kong Stockbrokers Association(Founded 1921)
Hong Kong Stockholders Association Ltd (Founded 1978) allow info sharing between HKSE and other exchanges		Far East Exchange Ltd(Founded 1969)		Kam Ngan Stock Exchange Ltd(Founded 1971)		Kowloon Stock Exchange Ltd(Founded 1972)
(1986) HKSE merges with other exchanges and retain the name but also presented as Stock Exchange of Hong Kong
(2000) Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing becomes the holding company for Hong Kong Stock Exchange		Hong Kong Futures Exchange Ltd(Founded 1976)		Hong Kong Securities Clearing Company Ltd(Founded 1989)

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