Stock exchanges and the history of their appearance

Stock exchanges are one of the forms of exchange, which provides services for trading stocks, bonds and other securities. They also provide the conditions for placement and redemption of equity securities and other financial instruments, even payment of income and dividends.

Any exchange must be registered in the required order. Earlier they were located mainly in the centers of large cities, however today trade is becoming less connected with the physical place. This is due to the fact that there are numerous modern electronic network markets that have advantages in the form of high speed and reduce the cost of transactions. In order for the stock exchange's activity to be available, it is necessary to become its participant.

The securities market took centuries, so that it could develop to the present day. The idea of borrowing goes back to the ancient world, as evidenced by the Mesopotamian clay tablets with records of interest-bearing loans. To date, the opinions of scientists are divided on when the first time trading in corporate shares began. Some believe that the key event was the founding of the Dutch East India Company in 1602, while others point to earlier events.

Thus, in the Roman Republic, which existed for centuries before the proclamation of the empire, societates publicanorum took place - the organization of contractors or tenants who performed the construction of temples and provided other services for the government. One such service was the feeding of geese on the Capitol Hill (as a reward, since the birds warned the Romans about the Gallic invasion in 390 BC). The participants of such organizations had actions, the essence of which was explained by the statesman and speaker Cicero. Such "stock exchanges" (more precisely, their ancient prototypes) disappeared during the reign of the emperor, as most of the assets passed to the state.

Trade in bonds arose for the first time in Italian cities in the late Middle Ages and during the early Renaissance. In 1171, the authorities of the Venetian Republic, concerned about the depleted treasury, began to practice compulsory loans from citizens. Such payments, known as Prestiti, had an indefinite maturity and promised compensation of 5 percent of the amount per year. Initially, they seemed suspicious, but subsequently began to be seen as valuable investments that could be bought and sold. The bond market began to grow.

As in the case of the latter, stock exchanges developed gradually. On the partnership agreements on the division of property by shares, quite often mentioned already in the 13th century, again mainly in Italy. However, such agreements usually extended only to a small group of people and were for a limited period, for example, for one sea voyage.

These commercial innovations eventually moved from Italy to Northern Europe. By the end of the 16th century, English merchants had already cooperated with joint-stock companies, designed to work on an ongoing basis. In the 18th century, stock exchanges practically did not differ from modern ones.

The main merit of these organizations is that they do not require huge capital expenditures to invest in stocks. This gives the same opportunity to invest both large and small investors - a person buys as many shares as he can afford. In addition, today there are many varieties of these enterprises - currency and stock exchange, futures, etc.