Capital Gains

History

17th century England encountered inadequate private funding for intended trade voyages and companies were forced to sell shares to merchants with the promise to share a portion of the profits.

With the success of these voyages, the trade in shares idea quickly spread across England and by 1695, an estimate of 140 joint-stock companies thrived around the city’s Change Alley until the setback in 1700s.

With the industrial revolution of 1800s, the exchange resumed business as the Stock Subscription Room on 3rd March 1801 under a formal membership, followed by the first codified rulebook in 1812.

Almost a century later, in 1991 the trading name ”The London Stock Exchange” (LSE) was assigned to it.

Business

The LSE is now one of the largest stock exchanges in the world with many British companies as well as several international listings.

1. The LSE’s Equity Markets, the most reliable listing environment, help international companies and enterprises, big or small, to raise capital money for growth of their businesses, trade in debt, equity and securities. It helps companies raise funds through listed debt, convertibles and depository receipt securities and caters to significant and specialised investment bodies.

2. The LSE Trading Services provide the platform that maximizes liquidity in the stocks traded, with 600,000 trades per day that total an average of £16 billion.

3. The LSE technology enables fast and reliable information transfer of Market Data Information - real-time prices, news and other financial information to the financial community across the globe.

4. Beyond the core equity markets, the LSE operates in the Derivatives business providing risk reduction, arbitrage and speculation through EDX London that endeavours to bring the cash equity and derivatives market closer.