The Mumbai Stock Exchange, established in 1875, is the oldest stock exchange in Asia. It precedes even the Tokyo Stock Exchange, which was founded in 1878. It was formerly called the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
Mumbai Stock Exchange is located at
Dalal Street in Fort, the main financial district of Mumbai. The name of this street, meaning agent, is derived owing to the daily hectic trading activities of the numerous trading agents.
Popularly referred to as the gateway to the capital market in India, it is the most active stock exchange in the country, dealing with over 70 percent of the listed capital and 90 percent of market capitalization. In Asia, its daily trading volume is surpassed only by the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The proceedings of Mumbai Stock Exchange is controlled by a governing board comprising of the Executive Director, a nominee of the Reserve Bank of India, three nominees of the Securities and Exchange Board of India, five public representatives and nine elected member brokers.
Till recent years the traders used to negotiate over a security deal via the open outcry system, wherein they used to negotiate face-to-face on the trading floor. This has been replaced by a computerized BSE On-Line Trading (BOLT) system, which accepts quotations from various trading bodies and client-brokers and matches them according to the specifications given in the Business Requirement Specifications (BRS) document stored in the system.
Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport is 27 km north. The nearest railhead is Churchgate Railway Station. Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) Railway Station is 6 km east.
