JSE Limited

The discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand in 1886 led to many mining and financial companies opening and a need soon arose for a stock exchange. The first share transactions on the Rand took place in a rustic canvas tent, with trade taking place on Sundays, as this was the only day when mining was not allowed, owing to a strictly enforced regulation prohibiting the entry of African workers to the gold reefs.[7][8]

Benjamin Minors Wollan

The Johannesburg Exchange & Chambers Company was established by a London businessman, Benjamin Minors Woollan and housed at the corner of Commissioner and Simmonds Streets. Out of this the JSE was born on 8 November 1887. What immediately gave the JSE a clear advantage over exchanges such as Kimberley, Barberton, and, most importantly, London, was that listing of companies for a quotation on the Official List of the JSE was an easy and relatively cheap procedure. This relatively simple and non-restricting nature of the early Exchange promoted a wave of initial registrations on the Official List, with 68 companies by the end of November 1887. The Official List further expanded to more than 300 companies by the end of January 1890.[9] By 1890 the trading hall became too small and had to be rebuilt but this too was outgrown. Trading then moved into the street. The Mining Commissioner closed off Simmonds Street between Market Square and Commissioner Street by means of chains.

In 1903, a new building was built for the JSE on Hollard Street. It was a storey building that took up an entire whole city block bounded by Fox and Main, Hollard and Sauer Streets.

After World War II, it became apparent that this building was again inadequate and in 1947 the decision was made to rebuild the stock exchange. It took 11 years before construction began and in February 1961 the second exchange at Hollard Street was officially opened. By 1963, the JSE became a member of the Federation International Bourses de Valeurs (FIBV).

In 1978, the JSE took up residence at 17 Diagonal Street near Kerk Street, Johannesburg. 1993 saw the JSE become an active member of the African Stock Exchanges Association. After 108 years, the open outcry system of trading was changed to an electronic system on 7 June 1996.

In September 2000, the Johannesburg Securities Exchange moved to its present location in Sandton, Gauteng at the corner of Maude Street and Gwen Lane. It adopted the JSE Securities Exchange as its new official name.

In 2001 an agreement was struck with the London Stock Exchange enabling cross-dealing between the two bourses[10] and replacing the JSE's trading system with that of the LSE.[11]

In 2009 the JSE acquired the Bond Exchange of South Africa for R240 million and rebranded it the JSE debt market adding South African government and corporate bonds as well as interest rate derivatives to its product set.[12][13]

On 18 June 2012, the JSE became a founding member of the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges initiative on the eve of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20).[14]

JSE logo prior to the April 2014 re-branding

On 14 April 2014, the JSE re-branded to demonstrates the bourse's identity as a modern African marketplace that connects investors to growth opportunities not only in South Africa but globally.[15]

In May 2022, the JSE became the first exchange to come to market with a new service from provider xyt that would utilize peep group rankings to help trading firms explore market share and examine and view trading interactions and performance. It would be called JSE Trade Explorer.[16]

The JSE provides a market where securities can be traded freely under a regulated procedure. It not only channels funds into the economy, but also provides investors with returns on investments in the form of dividends.[17][18]

The Johannesburg Exchange in 1893

The exchange successfully fulfils its main function—the raising of primary capital—by rechannelling cash resources into productive economic activity, thus building the economy while enhancing job opportunities and wealth creation.

The exchange is directed by an honorary committee of 16 people, all with full voting rights. The elected stockbroking members, who cannot number less than eight or more than eleven, may appoint an executive president and five outside members to the committee. Policy decisions are made by the committee and carried out by a full-time executive committee headed by the executive president.

The JSE is governed by its members but through their use of JSE services and facilities, these members are also customers of the Exchange. Each year the JSE must apply to the Minister of Finance for an operating license which vests external control of the exchange in the FSB.[19]

JSE's normal trading sessions are from 9:00am to 5:00pm on all weekdays except Saturdays, Sundays and holidays declared by the exchange in advance.[20]

The Alternative Exchange is a stock exchange that was founded as a division of the JSE in order to accommodate small- and medium-sized high growth companies. Its website is accessible from the front page of the JSE's main website. The Alternative Exchange is known as AltX.

The bourse is operated by JSE Limited, a company that listed on its own main board in June 2006.[21][22]

• Securities Transfer Tax (STT) 0.25%. Applies to share purchases only, not share sales.
• Strate 0.005787% (excluding VAT) based on the value of the share transactions:
  • Minimum R10.19 for trades with a value up to R176,000.
  • Maximum R73.49 for trades with a value over R1,270,000.
• FSCA Investor Protection Levy 0.0002% (excluding VAT) on all trades.

• Cibecs (2009)
• Diamonds as an investment
• Gold as an investment
• Investment Analysts Society of Southern Africa
• South African Futures Exchange
• List of stock exchanges in the Commonwealth of Nations
• List of stock exchanges
  • List of African stock exchanges
• South African Mineral Reporting Codes
• South African Institute of Stockbrokers
• South African Institute of Financial Markets
• A2X Markets

• Lukasiewicz, Mariusz. "From Diamonds to Gold: The Making of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, 1880–1890." Journal of Southern African Studies 43.4 (2017). pp. 715–732
• Klein, Harry. The story of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange: 1887-1947. Johannesburg: The Committee of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. 1948
• Rosenthal, Eric. On 'Change Through the Years: A History of Share Dealing in South Africa. Cape Town: Flesch Financial Publications. 1968

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

• Official website
• JSE Alternative Exchange official website