A public place for trading securities, regulated and supervised by the government, with the intermediation of a specially authorized agent. In Spain, it depends on the Ministry of Economy and Finance through the General Directorate of Financial Policy and is supervised by the Union Board of the College of Stock Exchange Agents. Although the origins of the stock exchange date back to Greece and Rome, the closest ones to today’s were born in the Middle Ages when bills of exchange and promissory notes were extended. Its name comes from the Van der Bürse Inn, in Bruges (Belgium), where traders gathered. The first modern stock exchange was the one in Antwerp, created in 1460, but it was not created in Spain until 1831, in Madrid. The stock exchange is a private organization that facilitates the negotiation of the purchase and sale of securities of the companies present there. Securities such as shares of companies or anonymous companies, public and private bonds, certificates, participation titles, and a wide variety of investment instruments are sold there, which fluctuate depending on supply and demand. For example, if it is expected that Banco Santander will earn more money, there will be demand for its securities, and these will rise in price. If, on the other hand, a reduction in profits or losses is feared, the shares will be sold, and their price will fall. For this reason, there is a maxim that states that the stock exchange anticipates economic cycles.
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