Bangalore, March 17:
The Bangalore Stock Exchange Ltd (BgSE) celebrated its 50th Foundation day today.
Established in 1957 as a Private Association, BgSE got its recognition as an Exchange on March 17, 1963 initially for a period of five years. BgSE started with trading in Government Securities and later expanded its operations to Trading in equity and other securities of the Listed Companies.
The Exchange has steadily progressed and gained reputation as a transparent and disciplined Exchange, thereby getting permanent recognition from the Ministry of Finance in 1983. Soon BgSE became the premier Stock Exchange of Southern India and one of the Leading Stock Exchanges in the Country. The Exchange has become the demutualised entity in 2007 with a public shareholder of 63% and balance holding being held by the Trading Members.
Speaking about the golden jubilee year, and their achievements, Mr. Manjit Singh, from BgSE, said, “We are very happy to celebrate our 50th year of service to the capital market. It has been a very eventful journey for the BgSE as a pioneering exchange, with a long list of achievements. We have introduced so many firsts ahead of our peers. During our early years of trading, we set up a clearing house in collaboration with Canara Bank. We have the distinction of being the first to set up a full-fledged library and information center with a vast selection of books on the capital market and software with extensive data about more than 5000 companies. Information is power and we put that in the hands of our Investors so that they can make well informed decisions. We are also the first exchange in South India to launch electronic screen based trading BEST, in the year 1996, besides being the first regional exchange to set up investor grievance cell. Long before other regional exchanges we established the Customer Protection Fund. We are very pleased with the confidence reposed in us by Investors and reaffirm our dedication to serving our Investors”.
BgSE has grown phenomenally in the last five decades with its reputation of being fair, transparent and responsive to customers in addition to the various firsts to its credit. The Exchange, has played a vital role in the growth of industry and commerce in the State of Karnataka and was the first to induct professionals and corporates as Members.
Today, the exchange has investor service centers in Mysore, Hubli, Shimoga, Davanagere, Tumkur and Mangalore to serve the investing community in those regions.
In 1996, they launched the monthly investor meets to interact with investors and these are held on the last Sunday of every month in Bangalore. These meets have been conducted without a break continuously in the last 17 years. In addition to these, the Exchange also conducts State-wide investor awareness programs every month.
According to Mr. Manjit Singh, when the liquidity in the regional exchanges started drying up after competition from the national level Stock Exchanges which expanded their terminals across the Country, BgSE made strategic alliance with NSE and BSE. BgSE floated its subsidiary, BgSE Financial Limited in 1999 and obtained the membership of NSE and BSE so that it could continue to serve its investors.
Through this initiative, BgSE Financials Ltd has become a leading institutional brokerage house in Karnataka today and has seen huge volumes of transactions. In 2011-12, it recorded a turnover of Rs.13,200 crores through more than one lakh clients. BgSE Financials Limited is also the largest DP of NSDL in South India.
The exchange is also offering a number of certificate training courses to educate students about the capital market and to bridge the gap between theory and practice.
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