The Bucharest Stock Exchange celebrates 140 years since the founding of Romania’s first stock exchange

• The stock and commodity exchange in Romania began trading on December 1, 1882, pursuant to a High Royal Decree issued by King Carol I. After the communist regime took hold, the stock exchange was closed in 1948.
• The stock exchange was reinstated in 1995, its first trading session taking place on November 20, 1995, when only six companies were listed. Currently, there are 376 companies listed on the stock exchange.
• Over time, the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) has demonstrated that it has successfully fulfilled its crucial role of financing the Romanian economy and, on December 15 this year, as part of an anniversary event, will celebrate 140 years since Romania’s first stock exchange was founded. The anniversary event is held under the High Patronage of the President of Romania.

The Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB), a fundamental institution for the capital market, is celebrating 140 years since the founding of Romania’s first stock exchange. On December 1, 1882, the stock and commodity exchange began trading in Romania following a High Royal Decree issued by King Carol I. The Romanian capital market has evolved in close alignment with the local economy, seeing both periods of accelerated development and economic crises specific to the various phases. After the communist regime took hold, the Stock exchange was closed in 1948. The Stock exchange was reinstated in 1995, its first trading session taking place on November 20, 1995, when only six companies were listed. By the end of 1995, there were nine.

In 2022, after the first ten months of the year, there are 376 companies listed on the BVB, 83 of which are on the Regulated Market and 293 are on the Multilateral Trading System (MTS). This year, as of 1 November, there have been 210 trading sessions, amounting to 1.43 million transactions using all types of financial instruments. The total value of transactions made on the Regulated Market and MTS in the first 10 months of 2022 using all types of financial instruments is around RON 19 billion, the equivalent of EUR 3.8 billion.

In 2020, the development of Romania’s capital market was recognized internationally by the global index provider FTSE Russell and, accordingly, Romania was upgraded to Emerging Market status. Currently, there are 13 Romanian companies included in Emerging Market indices, one of which is the issuer BVB, a company listed on its own market since 2010.

The capital market has become increasingly representative for the Romanian economy. According to the National Institute for Statistics, Romania’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2021 was RON 1,182 billion. BVB data for the same year show that Romanian companies have a market value of over RON 160 billion: RON 141 billion for companies on the Regulated Market and around RON 20 billion for companies on the Multilateral Trading System. The capitalization of Romanian companies listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange thus constituted 13.6% of Romania’s GDP.