Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FSE)
History of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange :
In the 16th century Frankfurt became an important European centre for financial and commercial transactions. The settlement of uniform currency exchange rates of various countries in 1585 is regarded as the moment of Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FSE) establishment.
In 1625 the first official currency exchange list was developed. After the establishment of the First Official Exchange Rules and Regulations in 1682, the official exchange stock exchange administration was introduced. In 1808 the Chamber of Commerce overtook the operations of the FSE. Thus, the FSE moved from the privately owned by a group of merchants to the publicly owned institution.
FSE was operated according to the financial policies set by Bundesbank, the central bank of the Federal Republic of Germany, until the introduction of the Euro in 2002. Since then the FSE is guided by the rules and regulations set by the European Central Bank.
At the end of 17th century the trade of promissory notes and bonds in the FSE started, whereas the trade of government bonds began in the 18th century. The first share issue was listed on the Exchange in 1820. However, it still specialized in trading bonds for a long time. When Berlin Stock Exchange started competing for the leader's position in Germany, the FSE decided to alter its economic policy and intensified share trading activities.
During two world wars the FSE, which was internationally oriented, highly suffered as the international contacts were destroyed. The Nazi regime took control of all FSE's operations. Only several years after the World War II Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FSE) established as the leading exchange in Germany.
Since 1993 Frankfurt Stock Exchange is operated by the company Deutsche Brse AG. With the launch of the electronic trading system Xetra in 1997, the importance of floor trading diminished and the FSE has taken the position of the of the world's third largest stock market and the world's sixth largest market by market capitalization.