The last great reorganization of the Paris bourse took place in 1898. There had been much criticism of the monopoly given to the 6o stockbrokers in Paris. The number was increased to 70, and a new table of brokerage was drawn up, and other articles were modified. It effected, however, no real change in the bourse organization, and the public demand for real reorganization was really turned, but not satisfied. However, the parquet wisely al lowed certain breaches of their monopoly privileges, which served in effect to reduce the dissatisfaction with their monopoly con ditions. Remisiers are allowed to make contracts by themselves provided that they record every day their transactions on the pad of an agent, who in return for a percentage of the brokerage hands them an official contract. Another violation of the law which has been accepted is the transaction of business for future delivery by the parquet. It was due to the competition of the curb-brokers.
Berlin Bdrse, like the Paris bourse, is sub ject to Government control and to legal enactments. It does not enjoy the freedom of the London or New York stock exchange, and speculation is frowned upon and discouraged on the German bourses. The official hours of the bourse are from 12 to 2 and on Saturdays from I 1 to 1 o'clock. Dealings, however, are al lowed to take place for 3o minutes after the official closing hour, and the prices are published in the papers. These quotations, however, are not official, and are not subject to the control of the bourse committee. During the months of July and August, which are regarded as holiday months, no session of the bourse is held on Saturdays. There is no entrance fee for a new member, and no fixed annual subscription. The finance committee of the bourse fixes the annual payment of a member according to the amount and volume of business of each firm. Certain fees are charged in respect of the partners who wish to visit the stock exchange, and, as in London, fees have to be paid for each authorized clerk and employee. The application of a new member must be sup ported by three members of the bourse, and each member support ing the application has to guarantee the candidate in the sum of 5,000 Reichsmarks. Members of the Berlin bourse are not neces sarily rich men; membership may be granted to men of relatively small resources. The brokers (makler) are appointed more out of regard for their character than for their resources. They carry on business under conditions laid down by the Government, and it is subject to the supervision and control of high State authorities. In 1896 legislation was passed which severely re stricted business on the Berlin bourse. It was intended to put a check on speculation in stocks for future payment and delivery. This forced speculators to transact their business abroad, espe cially in London, Brussels and Amsterdam. Since the war con ditions have become freer. The method of doing business on the Berlin bourse is peculiar. Orders to buy or sell securities are settled at official prices which are fixed every day. The fixing of these prices is determined by the relation of the current demand to the supply. The public have no trouble, therefore, in checking the price they pay or receive, as the case may be. The Frankfort
bourse holds two sessions, a morning and an evening session, but though dealings are carried on later than in Berlin, it is not a more important stock exchange. The securities dealt in are simi lar, and the official prices quoted are virtually the same. During the stabilization process, the bourse was overrun by "free" brokers and jobbers—a result of large-scale dismissals of clerical staffs by the banks. The bourse authorities, however, took steps to check this influx, and the "free" jobbers and brokers largely de clined. Improvements were made at the same time in the technical equipment and practices of the bourse, greatly facilitating the clearing system of dealing in securities. Business is nowadays done on normal lines, but the market has not recovered its former activity and importance owing to the great destruction of capital caused by the inflation of the currency during and after the war.
Amsterdam.—The Amsterdam bourse as it exists to-day was founded in 1876, and up to quite recent times its members, like those of the London stock exchange in earlier days, had to trans act their business in a building which also housed persons engaged in commercial business. In 1876 the bourse consisted of 435 members, whereas the present (1929) number is nearly Boo; the entrance fee, which was then 25 guilders, is now 2,000 guilders, and in the same period the annual subscription has been raised from 3o to 8o guilders. The bourse, members of which must be Dutch or nationalized Dutch, is open from 1.30 to 2.45 (Amster dam time). There are members and authorized clerks, as in London, but there is no line of demarcation between brokers and jobbers. Some firms combine broking and jobbing, and others work as bankers and brokers. The banks are all members of the bourse, and have their clerks therein, but they also do business through other members. Transactions are all for cash, except those in the shares of the Netherlands Trading Company, in which there is a monthly settlement. Three quotations are made during the day in less active stocks, on the basis of which business is done. The Amsterdam bourse is particularly interested in oil shares, especially Royal Dutch; the shares of various Dutch East Indies trading and planting companies ; the securities of one or two leading Dutch industries; and one or two artificial silk shares. Be fore the World War an important international market existed. This disappeared during the war, but lately a number of Belgian, French and German industrial shares have been introduced, and for some of these there is an active market. The American railway market, however, which before the war was one of the most active in the bourse, has now dwindled to small proportions. A large number of foreign bonds are now dealt in, and a part of many of the placings of German and other foreign bonds in the United States has also been issued in Amsterdam, and they are quoted on the bourse there. In recent years the yield from the duty payable on stock exchange transactions has varied from rather less than 5,000,000 florins to nearly 6,000,000 florins.