Toronto Ontario, Canada

History

The Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE) traces its roots back to the Association of Brokers, formed by Toronto businessmen on July 26, 1852. Although no records of the group’s transactions have survived, on October 25, 1861, twenty-four brokers convened at the Masonic Hall to establish the Toronto Stock Exchange. Between 1852 and 1870, two other distinct commodity-oriented exchanges were founded: the Toronto Exchange in 1854 and the Toronto Stock and Mining Exchange in 1868. Initially having 13 listings, the TSE expanded to 18 in 1868, with a majority being bonds and bank issues. The small market faced a setback in 1869 due to the failure of many Upper Canada banks. However, a bull market in 1870 boosted investor confidence, leading eight of the original 24 brokers to re-establish the TSE. The exchange was officially incorporated by an act of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in 1878.

The Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE) experienced continuous growth in size and shares traded, with a brief closure for three months in 1914 during World War I due to fear of financial panic. The TSE relocated to Bay Street in 1913 and inaugurated a new trading floor and headquarters in an Art Deco building in 1937, remaining on Bay Street. By 1936, it had become the third-largest stock exchange in North America. In 1977, the TSE introduced the TSE 300 index and implemented the CATS (Computer Assisted Trading System), an automated trading system, for quoting less liquid equities. The TSE moved to the Exchange Tower in 1983, leaving its Art Deco headquarters on Bay Street, which later became the Design Exchange museum. On April 23, 1997, the TSE’s trading floor closed, marking it as the second-largest stock exchange in North America to transition to a floorless, electronic (or virtual trading) environment.

In 1999, the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE) underwent a significant realignment, becoming the sole exchange for trading senior equities in Canada. In 2002, it was rebranded as TSX, and the exchange transitioned into a publicly traded company.

On February 9, 2011, the London Stock Exchange announced a merger with the TMX Group, the parent company of the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX), with the goal of creating a combined entity with a market capitalization of $5.9 trillion (£3.7 trillion). In March 2015, a competing exchange, Aequitas Neo, was launched, focusing on fairness and aiming to address perceived issues with “predatory high-frequency trading practices.” The new exchange listed 45 issues initially exclusive to the TSX and planned to expand its offerings to include additional TSX-listed securities.