14th century

Creation of the first stock exchange

In Bruges in the current Belgium.Before the creation of stock exchanges, financial securities (such as debt securities for example) were exclusively traded « over the counter », i.e. between a seller and a buyer who would meet in such places as the current Pont au Change in Paris or on the square in front of the inn held by the Van der Buerse family in Bruges. In this city, the first stock exchange was set up in 1309 and took on the name of this family. In France, the first commodities exchange was established in Lyon in 1540. The first stocks were traded in 1698 at Jonathan's Coffee House in London. These stock exchanges facilitated the trading of securities by enabling all buyers and sellers to meet in one place.