Today, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) celebrates 125 years of trading since it first opened its doors on 8 November 1887, a year after the gold rush in the Witwatersrand.
The exchange has come a long way since those early days. Ranked amongst the top 20 exchanges worldwide in terms of Equity Market capitalisation, the last 25 years have seen the JSE Group acquire the South African Futures and Bond Exchanges, bring innovative products to investors on all its markets and diversify its range of services.
“From our humble beginnings, today the JSE’s total Equity Market capitalisation is over R6 trillion with about 400 companies and 907 securities (including interest rate; currency, financial and commodity derivatives) listed. Our emphasis in the last 10 years has been to build a robust vertically and horizontally integrated market that offers our clients the opportunity to trade a wide range of products in a world class environment. South Africa has for three consecutive years been ranked number one in the world in terms of securities regulation by the World Economic Forum,” says Humphrey Borkum, chairman of the JSE.
“Naturally, the success of these efforts is also due to the substantial contribution that our clients have made over the years. We look forward to working with our clients to grow our market in future,” adds JSE CEO Nicky Newton King.
To recognise this milestone, in August this year the JSE donated R50,000 to Business Arts South Africa (BASA) for the Three2Six art programme which runs a holiday art program for vulnerable refugee children at Sacred Heart College in inner city Johannesburg. The program provided a safe space for the children for two weeks during the holidays (otherwise typically a time where the children are exposed to high levels of abuse) and allowed them to produce meaningful art with trained artists.
“Over 125 years, the JSE has become a critical part of the South African economy. Our industry has an important role to play in the funding of the future development of this country and we are excited by the prospects this holds,” concludes Newton King.
FTSE Mondo Visione Exchanges Index:
Johannesburg Stock Exchange Celebrates 125 Years
Date 08/11/2012