Search Results

This chapter analyses how three sets of international factors revolutionised markets for securities trading from the mid-1960s onwards. Firstly, transnational technological and economic developments, such as computerisation, expansion of securities markets, higher cross-border flows, and growth of large corporate investors and suppliers that transformed financial markets are examined. The other two factors relate to reforms in the US between the late 1960s and early 1980s that influenced the world securities market and offered an example of new institutions; European Union (EU) sectoral regulation that grew from the late 1980s and established a legal framework that outlawed monopolies and aided competition. These three forms of internationalisation placed severe pressures on traditional European institutions for securities trading, notably the organisation of stock exchanges as clubs of individual brokers, monopolies over trading, and regulation by governments and brokers themselves. Subsequent chapters compare the impacts of these three forms of internationalisation across countries.

This chapter discusses developments in the global securities market from the onset of the Second World War to 1970. Topics covered include the impact of the Second World War, the US securities market at the end of the war, securities markets outside the US, and the international securities market. It is argued that by the end of the Second World War, securities markets had become marginal appendages within financial systems, with pride of place being given to the actions of governments and banks. Government intervention was seen as the solution to all types of economic problems, whether it was a domestic shortage of finance or the stability of the international monetary system.

This chapter discusses developments in the global securities market between the two world wars. Topics covered include the securities markets during the First World War, the impact of the First World War on global securities markets, the 1920s, the Wall Street Crash, and securities markets and national governments during the 1930s.

This chapter discusses developments in the global securities market from 1970 to 1990. It shows that growth and development in the global securities market in the 1970s and 1980s were marked by two major turning points: the abolition of fixed commissions on the New York Stock Exchange in May 1975, which put pressure on stock exchanges in the US and around the world; and the Big Bang in London in October 1986, which not only transformed the British securities market but also intensified the pressure for change which had already been experienced by other stock exchanges, especially in Europe. By 1990, the effects of these twin developments were visible worldwide. The securities markets re-emerged as essential components of national financial systems whilst the global securities market once again became a key element in the financial flows that brought stability to the international monetary system.

This chapter discusses developments in the global securities market from the mid-nineteenth century to the year 1900. During this period, stock exchanges evolved into the most important institutions of the capitalist world providing an essential interface between money and capital markets at national and international levels. In the process, they facilitated the mobilization of vast amounts of money to finance the world's railway systems and contributed significantly to stability of the world monetary system, normally associated with the gold standard.

This chapter discusses developments in the global securities market from 1900 to the onset of the First World War. By 1914, securities markets played a key role in the financial systems of the most advanced world economies and had established a niche position within the less developed countries. Though far from being the universal means through which government and business raised funds or people employed their savings, securities had achieved a high level of penetration by the most sophisticated borrowers and investors. Internationally, securities markets were instrumental in the worldwide movement of funds that provided finance for major infrastructure projects and development of the earth's minerals and oil.

This chapter discusses developments in the global securities markets in the late 20th century. It is shown that the securities markets once again became essential components of each national financial system and provided a key element in the financial flows that redistributed savings around the world, bringing stability to the international monetary system. By 2005, a new global securities market was in full operation, which involved a degree of integration and interaction never before seen. This was the result of a culmination of technological and organizational advances during the 20th century. The securities markets had also overcome the governmental and institutional barriers that had previously restricted its development.

This chapter discusses developments in the global securities market between the end of the Napoleonic wars in 1815 and the middle of the 19th century. Most of the developments in the global securities market were isolated responses to local conditions, though they often shared common characteristics in terms of timing and the nature of the securities traded. The mid-1840s witnessed a number of speculative booms around the world in which corporate securities, especially railways, were very much at the fore. However, unlike previous booms, a degree of market integration was possible in the 1840s because of a transformation in the world-wide system of communication. Although the railway was important in providing faster transport, the greatest influence on the operation of the securities market was the development of the telegraph.

The Big Bang described in the last chapter appeared to have answered the doubts over the future of the London Stock Exchange, but from the late 1980s onwards into the 1990s, it both waned in importance within the British financial system and faced increasing competition from rival foreign stock exchanges. This chapter discusses the reasons for this, starting in the first section with relations with government, since one uncertainty was the level of freedom from government control that the Stock Exchange was to enjoy. With the disappearance of the Stock Exchange's quasi‐official status in the 1990s, there still remained doubts over the role that it had to play in the area of securities market supervision, and the next section of the chapter discusses this situation, the effect of the changing nature of its membership, the disaster over settlement services (the replacement of the successful TALISMAN (Transfer Accounting and Lodgement for Investors, Stock Management for Jobbers) by TAURUS (Transfer and Automated Registration of Uncertificated Stock) and the subsequent failure of TAURUS), and the eventual successful replacement of the SEAQ (Stock Exchange Automated Quotations) trading system by the SEQUENCE trading system from 1993 onwards. The third section of the chapter looks at the provision of the market, and the fact that with the proposed introduction of specialists or sole traders in 1992, the Stock Exchange had once again been brought to the attention of the Office of Fair Trading; competition was also forcing a re‐examination of the way the Stock Exchange's market was organized, and this resulted in the introduction in 1997 of order‐driven trading in the form of SETS (Stock Exchange Trading Service); this section also looks at the abandonment of the traded options market to LIFFE (London International Financials Futures Exchange) and of any pretensions to the futures market, the decline of the USM (Unlisted Securities Market) and its replacement by AIM (Alternative Investment Market), negotiations with various foreign stock markets, and the changing investment environment. The last part of the chapter looks specifically at the changing membership of the Stock Exchange.

This chapter discusses developments in the global securities market during the 18th century outlining progress made and the impact of revolution and war between 1789 and 1815. It is argued that the turmoil and disruption introduced by the French Revolution in 1789 had both negative and positive consequences for the global securities market. The negative outcome was easy to see in terms of the eclipse of Amsterdam as the premier financial centre and the collapse of the international market due to of widespread defaults. The positive outcome of the period of war and revolution between 1789 and 1815 was the establishment of the London Stock Exchange in 1801 as a closed market, with control over entry and the power to enforce rules of orderly behaviour. This produced a model that was then copied by other securities markets during the years after 1815.

The first section of this chapter looks at the internationalization of the London securities market over the period from 1850 to 1914. This was influenced both by transferable securities becoming commonplace for governments and businesses around the world, and by the transformation of communications with the development of the telegraph and then the telephone. These developments necessitated increased capacity to cope with the growing volume of securities traded, which included expansion of the trading floor, increasing membership, and the attraction of new people into the profession of stockbroking. The second section looks at the accompanying changes in the organizational and physical structure of the London Stock Exchange. The remaining sections look specifically at the expansion of membership, relationships and rivalry within the Stock Exchange, and the relationship of the Exchange to the money and capital (securities) markets.

This introductory chapter begins with a discussion of how the study of securities markets has been neglected. It argues that a full understanding of the past can inform present and future decisions through the ability to identify those features that were most important and their consequences. To achieve this end, it is vital to place the development of securities markets in their appropriate historical setting and use comparisons as analytical tools in order to produce conclusions of value. The tension between securities markets and governments, securities markets and stock exchanges, and between national securities markets and the global marketplace is described.

The first section of this chapter outlines the growing threats to the London Stock Exchange through the 1970s, including the ability of its members to block new proposals by the Council of the Stock Exchange, the investigation by the Monopolies Commission into the various restrictive practices of the Stock Exchange, relations with and attitude of the government, the formation of the Council of the Securities Industry (CSI), which was to take over responsibility for the Stock Exchange and other components of the securities market. The second section of the chapter discusses the limited responses of the Stock Exchange to these threats. The next two sections discuss technology and competition (from computerized trading systems), and change among the members (mergers, which resulted in a disproportionately large number of large firms as members, and a loss in numbers of jobbers). The last section looks at market opportunities––domestic corporate securities, government debt securities, loss of the foreign securities, traded options, the collapse of the securities market in 1974, and the by‐now limited role of the money market.

This introductory chapter discusses the types of securities that firms issue, and describes the investment banks that support their issue. The major business lines of the modern investment bank are investment banking, trading, asset management, and advisory work: each of these is explained and the structure of the modern investment banking industry is discussed. Data are presented showing the current size of the securities markets and the recent evolution of these markets. The relative importance of the various activities of the modern investment bank is analysed, and market trends in the organization and scale of the leading investment banks are presented.

This chapter seeks to compare how different jurisdictions allocate regulatory powers over their securities markets. Rather than seek to present detailed descriptions of how any specific jurisdictions allocate such regulatory responsibilities, three surveys on the topic, covering various jurisdictions and institutions, are described and evaluated. The chapter is composed of four sections. The first two summarize key results from two surveys that examine the regulation of securities markets, and how regulatory powers over such markets are allocated—one prepared by the World Federation of Exchanges in 2004, and the other by the International Council of Securities Associations in 2006. The third section presents the results of a survey undertaken in 2006 for this book on how regulatory authority is allocated in eight jurisdictions with large securities markets. Conclusions are presented in the last section.

As a successor to the previous chapter, which looked at organizational change in the London Stock Exchange between the two World Wars, this one looks at the changing market place over the same period. The first part of the chapter discusses competition from British provincial stock exchanges, from international arbitrage, and from North American and continental banks. The second part looks at the money market, and the last looks at the capital (securities) market and reduced international market.

This chapter discusses the lead up to the ‘Big Bang’ and its effects––the Big Bang refers to the abolition of fixed commissions and the single capacity on 27 October 1986, both of which had been at the centre of London Stock Exchange thinking for most of the twentieth century, and certainly since 1945. This move followed the abolition of exchange controls in 1979, and the associated far‐reaching changes on the securities market. The path from one to the other is traced, including the loss of the Stock Exchange's monopoly position within the securities market in January 1986. The new ways and roles that the Stock Exchange was forced to adopt during the early 1980s are described, including its merger with ISRO (International Securities Regulatory Organisation), its failure to merge with LIFFE (London International Financials Futures Exchange), expansion of securities traded on SEAQ (Stock Exchange Automated Quotations) international, and its opening of membership to global players. The last section of the chapter discusses further changes to the Stock Exchange that occurred to reflect the completely changed nature of its membership, including alterations in the degree of control and supervision exercised, and the ending of the Compensation Fund.

The question of what regulatory authority over securities markets should be assigned to exchanges, central counterparties, and central securities depositories has long been controversial. This chapter explores this issue in the broader context of examining how regulatory powers should be allocated between government regulators, self-regulatory organizations, and other types of regulatory institutions. The chapter is composed of three sections. In the first, the complexity of the decision as to how to allocate regulatory powers in a jurisdiction is discussed. The second section lists and analyzes crucial factors and constraints that affect the relative merits of allocating regulatory powers to different types of institutions. The last section encapsulates these discussions and presents in a simple and accessible manner key lessons about how best to allocate regulatory powers in the securities markets. In order to do so, nine general propositions are articulated.

This chapter look at the decline of the London Stock Exchange during the 1950s. The first part discusses the ways that the Stock Exchange raised money to enable it to survive in the early 1950s, relations between it and the government (which were conducted informally through confidential exchanges between the Governor of the Bank of England and the Chairman of the Stock Exchange), the restoration of option dealing, and the use of the Stock Exchange by the government to police activities regarding securities. The second part discusses the policing of the members of the Stock Exchange, and the third discusses the growing competition from the provincial stock exchanges, closer integration with the London‐based North American brokerage houses, and the Stock Exchange's lack of concern with international business. The last section looks at money and capital (securities) markets in the face of the decline of the Stock Exchange over the 1950s.

This chapter discusses the origins of the global securities market. The origins of the modern global securities market lie in medieval Italy, where in the city states of Venice, Genoa, and Florence new financial arrangements emerged out of a growing trade between East and West. Early modern advances and the first speculative bubble are described. It is argued that the most remarkable thing about the early development of the securities market is the role played by governments and their need for finance due to the turbulent nature of the economics of medieval and early modern Europe. Through the creation of transferable long-term debt upon which interest was paid, governments could access funds that would, in all probability, otherwise lie idle.