Entering into the Stock Exchange

The first issue to address is what constitutes a stock. A Stock is a title deed representing a fraction of the capital of a company and giving to its carrier voting rights at the assemblies and the right to information. These stocks are exchanged on the different world stock exchange places. There are various institutions of national or international Stock Market in each country.

However, some common structures will be found in countries all over the world. Indeed, on one side, we have a Stock Market which lists the companies of great scope, and on the other side, a market which deals with the companies of average sizes.

We will describe these various institutions in the case of the American market. These institutions on the American market are the following:

• la New York Stock Exchange (ou Nyse)
• le Nasdaq
• les ECN

The SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) is an organization which is responsible for supervising the exchanges within the three previous institutions.