London Stock Exchange

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is the stock exchange of UKOGB, where shares in public companies and the government's own bonds are bought and sold. A company registered at Companies House can list its shares there, and members and investment firms trade them through their accounts at the banks.

History

The exchange began in the coffee houses of the City of London at the end of the seventeenth century, where traders met to buy and sell shares; in 1698 a broker called John Castaing began publishing a list of prices from Jonathan's Coffee House. The exchange was formally established in 1801 and has been at the centre of the country's financial life ever since.

Trading

Shares on the exchange rise and fall with buying and selling: when more members want to buy a company's shares than sell them, the price goes up, and when more want to sell, it falls. Members can hold shares in an ordinary investment account or in a tax-free ISA, and can also invest through funds managed by authorised firms. The biggest rises and falls of each week are reported in the weekly digest in the Discord server.

Gilts, the government's own bonds, are also traded. Their yields follow Bank Rate, set by the Bank of England, plus a spread.

Regulation

Trading is overseen by the Financial Conduct Authority, which authorises the firms and advisers who manage other members' money. Stamp duty is charged on every purchase of shares and collected for HM Revenue and Customs, and gains and dividends count towards investment tax.

The economy

Activity on the exchange, such as how much is traded and whether prices are rising or falling, feeds into the economic figures published by the Office for National Statistics, so a strong market can lift the country's growth figures.

Notable listed companies

• Hopkins PLC (listed 2016)