Our History

  • Trust and innovation since 1698

  • 1698

    Jonathan’s Coffee House

    John Castaing publishes a list of currency, stock and commodity prices at Jonathan’s Coffee House. It includes prices for gold, ducats, silver staters and pieces of eight.
  • 1773

    The move to Sweeting’s Alley

    A more formal club known as ‘New Jonathan’s’ or ‘The Stock Exchange’ opens in Sweeting’s Alley. The building had a frontage of about 35 feet with a dealing room on the ground floor and a coffee room on the first. The occupation of the new building was the earliest manifestation of a formalised, though not yet regulated, stock exchange.
  • 1802

    A neat, plain building

    A new venue is built at Capel Court, next to the popular Mendoza’s Boxing Room. A gallery ran round around the main hall, equipped with desks and bookcases, any member requiring a book would call up to a clerk to throw it down.
  • 1812

    Playing by the rules

    The ‘First Rule Book’ is published, covering issues from trade settlement to defaults. Setting off fireworks, and footballs, is forbidden at the exchange.
  • 1840

    Telegraph revolution

    The telegraph machine is adopted by the Exchange, and by 1866 prices on the floor of the New York Exchange are available in London 20 minutes later, instead of 16 days.
  • 1872

    Ticker tape to telephone

    The introduction of the ticker tape machine allows price information to be transmitted almost instantly. It is followed in 1880 by the telephone.
  • 1914

    Aiding the war effort

    The Exchange plays a crucial role in the liquidation of almost a quarter of British overseas securities in order to finance the First World War.
  • 1923

    A new motto

    The Exchange receives its coat of arms from the College of Arms, along with the motto Dictum Meum Pactum – ‘My Word is My Bond’.
  • 1945

    Rocket strike

    Although the Exchange suffers repeated damage during the Second World War it remains open except for one day in 1945, when a V2 rocket makes a direct hit.
  • 1970

    Real-time prices

    The Market Price Display System is introduced, giving brokers access to the real-time prices of more than 700 leading securities.
  • 1972

    Stock Exchange Tower

    The Exchange moves to 125 Old Broad Street where, in contrast to the old building, Stock Exchange Tower stands 100m tall with 26 floors.
  • 1984

    The £4bn listing

    The UK government floats 50.2% of British Telecom for £4 billion, creating the largest company listed on London Stock Exchange.
  • 1984

    FTSE 100 is launched

    In partnership with the Financial Times, a real-time index of the 100 biggest companies by market capitalisation is launched – the Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, or FTSE 100.
  • 1986

    ‘Big Bang’ in the City

    The market is deregulated in what becomes known as ‘the ‘Big Bang’ with computerised trading replacing the old pit-style trading floor, leading to a huge increase in trading activity.
  • 1995

    AIM is launched

    The Alternative Investment Market (AIM) launches, giving smaller growth companies access to investor capital. Initially, 10 companies are quoted.
  • 1997

    Automatic trade matching

    A three-year project leads to trading, settlement and information systems being replaced by Stock Exchange Electronic Trading Services (SETS); trade orders are now matched automatically.
  • 2004

    Our new home

    London Stock Exchange moves to its current headquarters at 10 Paternoster Square, near St Paul’s Cathedral.
  • 2007

    Borsa Italiana

    London Stock Exchange merges with Italian Stock Exchange Borsa Italiana, creating London Stock Exchange Group.
  • 2015

    Green Bond Segments

    One of the first exchanges globally to launch dedicated segments for green bond issuers, since then we have welcomed landmark green bonds from around the world.
  • 2017

    International Securities Market (ISM)

    The ISM is launched to provide fixed income issuers with an efficient and direct customer-centric admission process. ISM achieved great success with its 100th bond after just two years and continues to attract corporates, sovereigns and financial institutions from around the world.
  • 2018

    Issuer Services

    London Stock Exchange launches new digital hub for its where their benefits of being part of our listed community are maximised by the access to unique solutions.
  • 2019

    Shanghai-London Stock Connect

    This pioneering partnership and fungible cross-listing mechanism between our two exchanges enables London-listed corporates to issue CDRs in Shanghai & Shanghai-listed corporates to issue GDRs in London.
  • 2019

    Sustainable finance initiatives

    The Green Economy Mark launched recognising listed companies with 50% or more of revenues from environmental solutions, while the Sustainable Bond Market (SBM) incorporates new Sustainability, Social and Issuer-Level Segments.