Headquartered in London.
Market Capitalization (2014, USD trillion) – 6.06;
Trade Value (2011, USD Billions) – 2,871.
Located in London City, it is the oldest and third-largest stock exchange in the world. The Exchange was founded in 1801 and its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul’s Cathedral. It is the most international of all the world’s stock exchanges, with around 3,000 companies from over 70 countries admitted to trading on its markets.
The London Stock Exchange runs several markets for listing, giving an opportunity for different sized companies to list. For the biggest companies exists the Premium Listed Main Market, while in terms of smaller SME’s the Stock Exchange operates the Alternative Investment Market and for international companies that fall outside the EU, it operates the Depository Receipt scheme as a way of listing and raising capital.
There are two main markets on which companies trade on the LSE:
- Main Market: The main market is home to Over 1,300 large companies from 60 different countries. Over the past 10 yearsover £366 billion has been raised through new and further issues by Main Market companies. The FTSE 100 Index (“footsie”) is the main share index of the 100 most highly capitalised UK companies listed on the Main Market.
- Alternative Investment Market (“AIM”): The Alternative Investment Market is LSE’s international market for smaller growing companies. A wide range of businesses including early stage, venture capital backed as well as more established companies join AIM seeking access to growth capital.
The AIM falls within the classification of a Multilateral Trading Facility (MTF) as defined under the MiFID directive in 2004, and such is a flexible market with a simpler admission process for companies wanting to be publicly listed.