The constitution and rules of the Exchange date back to 1817. In the century following, the New York securities market was subjected to intense pressure from a variety of sources. In addi tion to foreign and domestic wars, there were various currency difficulties, booms, depressions, periods of great activity and periods of practical stagnation. In consequence, the code of rules which governs Exchange members in their relationships and busi ness has been fully tested by extreme and various forms of eco nomic necessity, and they are for this reason all the more funda mentally sound and adequate today. In June, the Federal Congress passed the Securities Exchange Act, providing for the registration of Exchanges and the regulation of all securities markets. This contained a number of regulatory features, many of which had already been in force on the Exchange.
The total listings on the New York Stock Exchange (as of Dec. I, 1938) were approximately 1,244 stock issues, 1,426,653,00o shares, representing a current market value exceeding $46,000,000, 000 and 1,389 issues of bonds, with a current market value of $45,441,652,000. These latter include bonds of foreign nations with a market value of $2,844,296,000. Ready purchasing and sell ing within this enormous field of investment are facilitated by the branch offices of Stock Exchange member firms, connected with the New York main office by private wires. There were (1938) about 1,080 branch offices in 38o cities, representing 45 States of the United States and 7 foreign countries. Quotations were dis tributed on about 3,30o tickers.
During the world panic of 1929, the facilities of the New York Stock Exchange were severely tested. For a period of many weeks the daily business ran two and three times greater than under normal conditions. On October 29th, the number of reported stock sales reached the unprecedented total of 16,410,030 shares.
The gradual acquisition of different classes of securities to the New York market represents the whole panorama of American economic development. The original market began with trading in the United States Government 6% "stock" issue, which Hamil ton proposed for funding the Revolutionary debt ; and in the orig inal stock of the first United States Bank. Then, shares of the early fire and marine insurance companies, and of the local incor porated banks, were added. Later economic development brought into the market many State bonds for financing the construction of canals and turnpikes. In 1836 the first trading occurred in steam railway securities, which for nearly a century after wards constituted the principal business of the market, as the enormous railway systems spread across the American continent. The discovery of petroleum and coal was also soon reflected in the market by the appearance of oil and mining shares. After the Civil War, in addition to the great railway consolidations of the time, industrial and utilities securities were listed. In the begin ning of the World War, the market was called upon to distribute among American investors the American securities long held in the creditor countries of Europe; during that period also the Exchange accelerated the listing of foreign government and foreign corpora tion securities. Although the trend of the latter is now reversed, the New York Stock Exchange is not only the dominant security market in America, but it is also an international securities mar ket of considerable scope. (C. R. GA. ; X.) Paris.—The Paris bourse, unlike the London stock exchange, is subject to Government control and supervision. It is an influential body, and is an institution of great financial and political strength. Agents de change, who are the members of the bourse, are nominated by decrees countersigned by the minister of finance or by the minister of commerce and industry. The agents de change must be Frenchmen, and in full possession of civic and political rights. They form the aristocracy of the bourse. They constitute what is known as the parquet, a privileged space on the floor of the bourse to which only they have access. The
rest of the bourse is known as the coulisse. The parquet of the bourse elects a chambre syndicale or committee, which makes the rules for the conduct of business. Although in law the liabilities of individual members are no concern of the bourse, in practice the chambre syndicate meets the liabilities of any defaulting member. Each member owns what is called a charge, for which he has paid a sum varying from 1,5oo,000 f. to 2,000,000 f. to his predecessor by a private arrangement. In addition a member must deposit 250,00o f. as caution money and 120,000 f. in the caisse commune of the chambre syndicale. Agents de change enjoy a monopoly in regard to various kinds of legal business, and they possess other privileges not shared by members of the coulisse. They may buy or sell certain securities for cash, whereas the coulissiers may only deal for delivery in the settlement. Securities dealt in by the coulisse are known as valeurs en banque, and the coulisse is often described as the marche en banque. The agents de change issue the official price list of securities each day, but the coulisse issues an unofficial list of its own. Being less restrictive and broader, the coulisse provides much the bigger market, and its business is much larger in volume than that of the parquet. The market for foreign securities is in the coulisse, some of the members of which are very wealthy. Practically all Continental securities are in bearer form; that is to say, they are not registered or inscribed, but change ownership by passing from hand to hand. Great care is taken to protect dealings in bonds which may pass so easily. The agents de change, for in stance, publish the Bulletin official des oppositions, which gives the designations and the numbers of securities dealings in which are suspended because they have been stolen or lost. It is im perative for those dealing in Continental bonds to examine this list before taking delivery of bonds in case they may be on the "stopped" list. As in London, the settlement of transactions takes place every fortnight, in the middle and at the end of the month. Dealings in French Government securities, however, are paid for, and the securities are taken up, at the end of every month. The Paris Bourse has not the same international im portance as London. Before the war the French investor confined his investments to French securities. Russian bonds, certain Brazilian and Argentine and other South American securities, and a few United States bonds, Rio Tinto copper shares, oil shares, mostly Russian, and South African gold mining shares. Turkish and Egyptian securities have had a certain vogue, as well as sundry issues of the lesser European States and munici palities. Occasionally the French have taken to big speculative ventures. Inspired by the success of the Suez canal investment, for instance, many Frenchmen supported the Panama Canal Com pany, but huge sums were lost in that enterprise. That disaster gave a severe blow to speculative enterprise in France, where it has never been really liked, for the average Frenchman prefers to invest, and not to speculate or gamble. The banking houses of France are all represented in the bourse, and much of the investment business of the bourse is really done through the banks. During the period of currency depreciation in France a great deal of money was invested abroad in spite of the pro hibition on the export of capital, but the major part of this money was invested in very high-class British and American securities, and an inconsiderable part was deposited with- banks at interest. Business begins on the Paris bourse at 11 o'clock and lasts until 3 o'clock. It is usually opened on Saturdays, but in the summer months it remains closed on that day. Unofficial business may be conducted outside the official hours, and at times many transactions are entered into after the bourse has been closed.