Personal Investing FAQs

London Stock Exchange is not open to the public. Following deregulation in 1986 known as the ‘Big Bang’, the traditional system of open outcry on the stock exchange trading floor was replaced by electronic trading. As such, London Stock Exchange no longer has a trading floor. If you want to learn more about the history of London Stock Exchange, visit our story page.

London Stock Exchange trading hours are from 8:00 to 16:30.

The Order Book is simply a two-column listing of buyers and sellers. In one column you find investors willing to buy at a specific price. In the other column investors willing to sell. The buy and sell columns are both arranged on a price/time priority basis. It means that the highest price someone is willing to pay will be at the top of the buy column. Similarly, the lowest price someone is willing to sell is at the top of the sell column. London Stock Exchange’s Order Book attracts the largest trading volumes for the majority of UK stocks. To access and benefit from the Order Book, you need to open an account with a broker offering Direct Market Access. Learn more on our Direct Market Access page.

As one of the world’s oldest stock exchanges, London Stock Exchange can trace its history back more than 300 years. Members used to meet on the exchange trading floor to buy and sell shares. Although the trading floor closed in 1986. Member Firms still trade with each other electronically. A Member Firm is able to directly access London Stock Exchange trading systems across a range of asset classes including equities, bonds or exchange traded funds. Member Firms are bound to and must comply with London Stock Exchange rules.

London Stock Exchange does not offer investment advice or services. To access our markets, you need to get in touch with a stockbroker.

We have a directory of UK brokers who are members of London Stock Exchange. Use our Find a Broker service to find the most suitable broker for your requirements. Specific offering information can be found directly on brokers websites.

In the UK, many brokers offer to trade international shares. If you are looking to target a specific geography or industry, take the time to research brokers offerings.

Our Find a Broker service will help you to search brokers that are members of London Stock Exchange. More specific information is available directly on their websites.

You need to get in touch with your local broker who will able to provide you with more information. If you don't have a broker yet, you can find London Stock Exchange stockbrokers in our Broker Directory. If you are overseas, you might want to search for a local broker.

If the shares have been transferred to you, you should approach a stockbroker or an independent financial advisor who can help you decide on the best approach depending of your specific situation.

Our Find a Broker service can help you find the most suitable firm to advise you further.

London Stock Exchange does not issue stocks certificates. To request a stock transfer certificate, get in touch with your stockbroker. If you don't have a stockbroker, you can find a list on our Broker Directory.

Stamp Duty is a tax introduced by the UK Government in 1694. Most people are familiar with paying it when they buy a house, but it’s also charged on share purchases. This tax is currently charged at 0.5% on share purchases made electronically. For non-electronic deals, Stamp Duty is charged at 0.5% on transactions valued over £1,000 only. While most of UK shares are subject to Stamp Duty, there is an exemption on eligible AIM and High Growth Segment securities. More details can be found on our Stamp Duty page.

Our Price Explorer is a powerful tool to find London Stock Exchange listed instruments. You can filter by asset class, markets, admission date and sectors. If you already know what security you are looking for, you can’t type in the instrument name or ISIN into the search bar.

Extensive information on issuers listed on our markets is available through our Price Explorer service. Each company profile provides you with market and fundamental data as well as summarised news and insights. If you need any additional information, you can always navigate to the issuer website from there.

You can find a list of expected listings and recent issues on our Market activity page. This page is updated frequently to reflect information submitted by issuers.

Whilst we focus primarily on securities listed on our markets, we also have data on securities trading on Turquoise markets and instruments. Turquoise is a professional pan-European trading venue owned in majority by London Stock Exchange and in partnership with several banks. You can search over 4500+ securities available on Turquoise on our Turquoise markets and instruments.

In our Reports section, we have centralised all statistics available for you to consult and download. For example, you can find historical lists of IPOs going back to 1999 or extensive orderbook trading statistics. Use filters and dedicated FAQs to locate useful documents.