BELEX

Belgrade Stock Exchange

Београдска берза Beogradska berza
The World Trade Center Belgrade.
Type
Location	Belgrade,  Serbia
Founded	31 December 2003 (2003-12-31) (Belgrade, Serbia,  Serbia and Montenegro) First founded on 21 November 1894 (Belgrade, Serbia)
Key people	Siniša Krneta (Director)
Currency	Serbian dinar (RSD)
No. of listings	29
Market cap	€6.627 billion (December 2014) US$9.6 billion
Indices	BELEX15 BELEXline
Website	www.belex.rs

The Belgrade Stock Exchange (abbr. BELEX, Serbian: Београдска берза / Beogradska berza) is a based in Belgrade, Serbia. The Stock exchange was founded in 1894 in the Kingdom of Serbia, after the King proclaimed the Stock exchange law of 1886. Currently, the Belgrade Stock Exchange is a full member of (FEAS) and an associate member of Federation of European Securities Exchanges (FESE).

The first ideas about establishing an institution which would control the movement of the value of money appeared in Serbia in the 1830s. The Serbian Trading Association, important for the development of the entire Serbian economy, initiated the passing of the Stock Exchange Law. The national Assembly adopted the Law on 3. November 1886, and the Law was proclaimed by the then King of Serbia Milan M. Obrenović. Several years later, on 21. November 1894, in "Građanska kasina" the Belgrade Stock Exchange held its Founding Assembly and selected the management and exchange intermediaries. The purpose of founding the Exchange was to promote, facilitate and regulate trading in various commodities, all securities allowed to be quated, cheques and coupons, coins and paper money.

The first trading sessions were held in the hotel "Bosna" on the bank of the river Sava, where exporters met and prepared contracts for food and prunes. At that time, only one trading session was held and in one room all transactions were concluded (currency, money, goods). As trading developed, two departments were founded: one for commodities, which stayed on the same side of the Sava as the Commodity Stock Exchange, and the department for currencies and receivables, the Currency Exchange, which started operation on the premises of the hotel "Srpska kruna". The Belgrade Stock Exchange was considered to be the best organized financial institution, was one of the oldest exchanges in Europe and the prices established on the Exchange were the referent prices for products on other European exchanges.

In the beginning of the 20th century, various securities were listed on the Exchange. The most wanted and the most stable ones were government securities, which is quite understandable as people trusted the state more than public companies. The rule to observe was "if you want to eat well, invest in shares. But, if you want to sleep well, invest in government bonds". Between the two world wars, after a four-year break and in a difficult economic situation, the Exchange resumed its business. It prepared the regulatory framework and internal rules and regulations and consequently achieved new results.