ASIA PACIFIC STOCK EXCHANGE:

The Asia Pacific Stock Exchange (APX) is a stock exchange with its
headquarters in Sydney, Australia. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the
AIMS Financial Group, with a market license granted by the Australian
Securities & Investment Commission (ASIC) on 5 November 2013.
APX listed its first few companies on 6 March 2014. Asia Pacific
Exchange Pvt. Ltd. (APEX) (www.asiapacificex.com) is a derivatives
exchange incorporated in Singapore. APEX lists commodity and
financial derivatives traded by global market participants. Recognizing
the demand that global market participants have for products closely
related to the Chinese economy, APEX aims to provide a robust
platform with such exposure for international market participants. The
platform also serves Chinese and international market participants
seeking to manage their price risk. APEX’s clearing house, APEX Clear,
offers innovative clearing and settlement services across asset classes for
all of its exchange traded derivatives.

HISTORY

The exchange began in 1997 as an exempt market operated by Austock.

(An exempt market is one the Australian government exempts from the
licensing otherwise required for a financial market.) The first listing was
pharmaceutical manufacturer Sigma Pharmaceuticals. At the time it was
a cooperative owned by pharmacists, and it wanted to raise capital, but
an Australian Stock Exchange listing would have required the owners to
give up control (under the ASX "one share, one vote" rule).

Austock instead created a structure of separate investor and voting

shares for them, and established an exempt market for those shares. The
Austock exempt market through its life listed 22 companies and turned
over about $500 million. It included initial listings for the SFE
Corporation (owner of the Sydney Futures Exchange) and SPC
Ardmona, before they moved to the Australian Stock Exchange.

The exchange in its present form as a licensed stock exchange was

established in August 2004 and commenced trading in January 2005. It
retained the trading platform software used by the exempt market.

THE NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE:

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is an American stock exchange

on Wall Street in New York City. With a market cap of more than
US$16 trillion, the NYSE is the world’s largest stock exchange,
averaging US$169 billion in daily trading value in 2013. As of 2014, the
NYSE (also known as “the Big Board”) has a listing of nearly 1,900
companies, 1,500 of which are U.S. companies. The NYSE is owned by
Intercontinental Exchange and is regulated by the Securities and
Exchange Commission.
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE:

The NYSE was founded 17 May 1792 when 24 stockbrokers signed the
Buttonwood Agreement on Wall Street in New York City. Famously,
they met beneath a Buttonwood tree and formed a centralized exchanged
for the burgeoning securities market in the United States. The agreement
eliminated the need for auctioneers—used frequently for wheat, tobacco
and other commodities—and set a commission rate. The organization
made the Tontine Coffee House its headquarters and focused on
government bonds.

 Twenty-five years later, 8 March 1817, the organisation officially

became the New York Stock & Exchange Board, later simplified
to the New York Stock Exchange. Throughout the early 1800s, the
NYSE expanded beyond government bonds and bank stocks. New
York itself soon surpassed Philadelphia as the financial center or
the United States.
 Advances in telegraphic communication allowed buying and
selling through the telegraph, creating a new ease in trading.
Membership increased and became more exclusive. By the start of
the Civil War, securities, commodities and gold, discovered in
California, excited participation in the exchange.
 The location changed several times before settling into its present
location at 11 Wall Street in 1865. The Neo-Classical building
was registered as a Historic Landmark in 1978.
  In 1878, telephones were installed, giving investors direct access
to brokers on the floor of the exchange. The increased activity
made the exchange cap the number of members to 1,060, seats for
which required purchase from retiring members.

Between the late 1800s and the end of World War I, the NYSE struggled
in the wake of international turmoil. Then the stock market crashed 23
October 1929, causing an 89% drop in share prices. The crash led to
heavy regulation by the U.S. government. The NYSE subsequently
registered with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
On 19 October 1987 the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 508
points, the biggest crash since 1929.

NYSE TRADING:

When a company registers with the NYSE (fundamentally to raise

capital), shares of the company’s stocks become available for public
trading. Traders wanting to invest in the stock market can buy and sell
stocks online through exchange companies. Trading takes place on the
trading floor through floor brokers and Designated Market Makers. The
NYSE assigns Designated Market Makers to each stock to provide
liquidity—the only exchange that requires this assignment.

Opening and closing bells are rung at the start and end of each trading
day; the NYSE’s hours of operation are Monday through Friday, 9:30
am to 4:00 pm ET. Since the 1870s, market participants have been
invited to ring the bell, included CEOs, celebrities and more.

Trading is automated, with the exception of occasional high-priced

stocks, making the NYSE the premier hybrid market. Trades execute in
less than a second when electronic, while manual trades typically take
nine seconds.7) Likewise, trades run in a continuous auction format.
Currently, investors need only find a brokerage who is a member of the
NYSE. Through the brokerage, investors buy and sell stocks and other
products from quotes provided to the brokerage from the NYSE.

NYSE Products:

The NYSE holds five regulated markets, including the New York Stock
Exchange, Arca, MKT and Amex Options. The NYSE lists medium and
large companies, with smaller companies listing on NYSE MKT. On the
NYSE, investors can trade several major asset classes: equities, options,
exchange-traded funds (NYSE Arca) and bonds (NYSE Bonds).

NYSE Listing Companies:

The NYSE is currently the world’s largest IPO provider, raising US$55

billion in 2013.8) Companies listing on the NYSE use a ticker symbol

(Apple Inc.: AAPL). Some 20% of the industries represented are from

financials—trusts, insurance, and others.9) Oil and gas, consumer goods

and services, healthcare, technology and telecommunications are among

other major industries covered by the NYSE.

Major corporations listing on the NYSE include:

 Bank of America
 Ford Motor Co
 Sprint Corp
 General Electric Co
 Twitter Inc.
 Pfizer Inc.

Since the establishment of the circuit breaker market protection

system, the NYSE has been subject to periods of stress on several
occasions.

 October 1989: The prices on the NYSE exchange saw a 6.9% one-
day decline following a collapse of the junk bond market.
 October 1997: The Dow Jones fell 7.2%, in response the outbreak
of the Asian Financial Crisis.
 September 2001: In the wake of terror attacks in New York on
September 11, the NYSE was closed for four trading sessions. It
was only the third time since, March 1933 that the exchange was
closed for more than one session.
 May 2010: The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell about 10%, its
largest intraday percentage drop since the October 19, 1987
decrease, in what was called the “Flash Crash.”
  October 2012: The exchange was closed for two days due to
Hurricane Sandy. It was the first weather-related multi-day
shutdown since 1888.
 July 8, 2015: The exchange halted trading for nearly four hours
due to technical issues that were initially suspected to be the result
of a cyber-attack. No evidence of a security breach was found.

INFLUENCE OF NYSE ON THE ECONOMY

The NYSE is one of the earliest major world stock exchanges, and it has
grown to have significant influence on the U.S. and global economies.
As the largest exchange in the U.S. and in the world, the NYSE and its
trading are understood to be responsible for the creation, and
destruction, of large amounts of financial wealth every hour of every
trading day. The rise and fall of share prices on the NYSE affects
investor sentiment, encouraging or discouraging investors to spend more
or less money in the economy according to gains or losses in their
investment portfolios.

The exchange offers companies a significant mechanism to raise capital

for their investments, which also injects money directly into the
economy and into the creation of jobs. Trading volume on the NYSE in
2015 totaled US$18 trillion, nearly equal to the U.S. gross domestic
product and approximately 20% of the gross world product, according to
an estimate calculated by the World Bank.
Any opinions, news, research, analyses, prices, other information, or
links to third-party sites are provided as general market commentary and
do not constitute investment advice. FXCM will not accept liability for
any loss or damage including, without limitation, to any loss of profit
which may arise directly or indirectly from use of or reliance on such
information.
LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE

London Stock Exchange (LSE), a London marketplace for securities.

After having long been situated closer to the Bank of England and the

Royal Exchange, in 2004 the London Stock Exchange relocated

elsewhere in the City of London to Paternoster Square. The market was

formed in 1773 by several stockbrokers who had been doing business

informally in neighborhood coffeehouses.

In 1801 a group of members raised money for the construction of a

building in Capel Court, Bartholomew Lane, and rules for the exchange

were established soon afterward; the rules subsequently have been

amended several times. In 1973 the exchange merged with several

regional stock exchanges in Great Britain, and in 1986 its operations

were reorganized and an automated price-quotation system introduced.

 London Stock Exchange Group (LSE.L) is a diversified
international market infrastructure and capital markets business
sitting at the heart of the world's financial community. The Group
can trace its history back to 1698.
 The Group operates a broad range of international equity, bond and
derivatives markets, including London Stock Exchange; Borsa
Italiana; MTS, Europe's leading fixed income market; and
Turquoise, pan-European equities MTF. It is also home to one of
the world’s leading growth markets for SMEs, AIM. Through its
platforms, the Group offers international business and investors
unrivalled access to Europe's capital markets.
 Post trade and risk management services are a significant part of
the Group’s business operations. In addition to majority ownership
of multi-asset global CCP operator, LCH Group, LSEG operates
CC&G, the Italian clearing house; Monte Titoli, the T2S-ready
European settlement business; and globe Settle, the Group’s newly
established CSD based in Luxembourg.
 The Group is a global leader in indexing and analytic solutions.
FTSE Russell offers thousands of indexes that measure and
benchmark markets around the world. The Group also provides
customers with an extensive range of real time and reference data
products, including SEDOL, UnaVista, and RNS.
  London Stock Exchange Group is a leading developer of high
performance trading platforms and capital markets software for
customers around the world. In addition to the Group’s own
markets, over 35 other organizations and exchanges use the
Group’s Millennium IT trading, surveillance and post trade
technology.
 Headquartered in London, with significant operations in North
America, Italy, France and Sri Lanka, the Group employs
approximately 4,700 people.

HISTORY:

For over 300 years, the London Stock Exchange has produced detailed
market information for companies and investors. Technological
innovations have transformed this service from a twice-weekly paper
publication for the London business community to a continuous flow of
electronic information to all the financial markets across the globe.

PDS”) with 16 pages of market prices and 4 pages of company news

summaries. The service's mainframe computer took up an entire floor of
a City office building.

CAPITAL MARKETS

Our central economic function is to bring together companies and other

issuers seeking capital with investors from around the world.
Primary market

Our primary markets in London and Italy provide companies and other
issuers of equity and debt from around the globe with cost efficient
access to some of the world’s deepest and most liquid pools of capital.

Secondary market

Our systems provide fast and efficient trading, providing investors and
institutions access to UK and Italian equities, pan-European equities
(through Turquoise), international depositary receipts (on our
International Order Book), European corporate and government bonds
(fixed income) and equity and index derivatives (Italian, Norwegian,
Russian and UK).

Equities

Our primary markets are home to a wide range of companies, from

global and well known, to small and medium size enterprises. Our
systems allow our members to electronically trade equities listed on our
markets. The majority of trading takes place on our Main and AIM
markets, both in London and Italy. Through Turquoise, traders can also
access pan-European equities.
Fixed Income

The Group’s MTS, MOT, ORB and Euro TLX markets provide
platforms for the trading of European and US Government and corporate
bonds.

Derivatives

Our success in running primary markets has enabled us to develop

derivative markets for the trading of emerging market equity derivatives,
particularly Russian derivatives. IDEM is our derivatives market for
Italian equities; Turquoise trades International Order Book derivatives
and has also launched FTSE 100 Index Futures and Options.

THE ROLE OF THE EXCHANGE

The London Stock Exchange enables companies from around the world
to raise money from outside investors. Its main aim is to provide
attractive, efficient and well-regulated markets for companies, investors
and intermediaries, such as stockbrokers.

The Exchange is one of the world’s oldest stock exchanges and can trace
its history back to the coffee houses of 17th century London. For many
decades, the Exchange provided a trading floor where members of the
Exchange could buy and sell shares. Today, share trading is almost
entirely done through computers and the Exchange offers this service
with state-of-the-art systems that can process over a million trades every
single day.

The Exchange is not only one of the oldest exchanges in the world, it is
also one of the most prestigious, supplying high-quality prices, news and
other information to the financial community, not just in the UK but
across the world.

The Exchange sends data to over 100,000 terminals in more than 100
countries. This data varies from live share prices to financial
announcements, made via the Regulatory Information Services.

For investors, the London Stock Exchange provides access to the shares
of thousands of UK and overseas companies, as well as other financial
securities, such as bonds.

For companies, the Exchange provides access to thousands of investors

from around the world, ranging from large financial institutions to
private individuals.

THE HONG KONG STOCK EXCHANGE

One of the world's largest securities markets by market capitalization,

the Hong Kong Stock Exchange traces its origins to the founding of
China's first formal securities market, the Association of Stock brokers
in Hong Kong, in 1891. A second market opened in 1921, and in 1947
the two merged to form the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. It is one of the
larger markets in Asia with around 1,200 listed companies as of 2008.
The Exchange introduced automated ordering in 1993 and stock option
trading in 1995. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange merged with the Hong
Kong Futures Exchange and the Hong Kong Securities Clearing
Company in 2000 to form Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd., a
publicly traded company.

Companies offering H-shares must follow the regulations described in

the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong’s (SEHK’s) Listing Rules for the
Main Board and for the Growth Enterprise Market (GEM). The rules
state that annual accounts must follow Hong Kong or international
accounting standards. Also, a company’s articles of incorporation must
include sections clarifying the varying nature of domestic shares and
foreign shares, including H-shares, as well as the rights given to each
purchaser. In addition, sections protecting investors must follow the laws
of Hong Kong and be included in the company’s constitutional
documents. Otherwise, the processes of list listing and trading H-shares
are similar to those of other stocks in Hong Kong.

HISTORY OF HONG KONG STOCK EXCHANGE

The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (SEHK) is a stock

exchange located in Hong Kong. It is East Asia's and Asia's third largest
stock exchange in terms of market capitalization behind the Tokyo Stock
Exchange and Shanghai Stock Exchange, and the sixth largest in the
world before Euronext. As of 31 October 2016, SEHK had 1,955 listed
companies, 989 of which are from mainland China (Red chip, H share
and P chip), 856 from Hong Kong and 110 from other countries and
region (e.g. Macau, Taiwan, Malaysia, United States, Singapore, etc.)
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing owns SEHK and is itself listed on
SEHK. The physical trading floor at Exchange Square (Hong Kong)
closed in 2017, due to the shift towards electronic trading. By 2014, it
accounted for less than 1% of trade volume.

The Hong Kong securities market can be traced back to 1866, but the
stock market was formally set up in 1891, when the Association of
Stockbrokers in Hong Kong was established. It was renamed The Hong
Kong Stock Exchange in 1914.

By 1972, Hong Kong had four stock exchanges in operation. There were
subsequently calls for the formation of a unified stock exchange. The
Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (the Exchange) was
incorporated in 1980 and trading on the Exchange finally commenced on
2 April 1986. Since 1986, a number of major developments have taken
place. The 1987 market crash revealed flaws in the market and led to
calls for a complete reform of the Hong Kong securities industry. This
led to significant regulatory changes and infrastructural developments.
As a result, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) was set up in
1989 as the single statutory securities market regulator.

The market infrastructure was much improves with the introduction by

the Exchange of the Central Clearing and Settlement System (CCASS)
in June 1992 and the Automatic Order Matching and Execution System
(AMS) in November 1993. Since then, the framework of market rules
and regulations, both Exchange-administered or otherwise, have been
undergoing continuing review and revision to meet changing market
needs while ensuring effective market regulation.

The Exchange Listing Rules have been made more comprehensive, and
other existing regulations have been improved or new regulations
introduced to enhance market development and investor protection.
Enhancements were also made to the system infrastructure, including the
launch of off-floor trading terminals in brokers’ offices in January 1996.
The third generation of the trading system, AMS/3, will be launched in
2000. It will provide enhanced functionality and a platform for a
straight-through transaction process.

In respect of market and product development, there are the listing of the
first derivative warrant in February 1988, the listing of the first China-
incorporated enterprise (H share) in July 1993; and the introduction of
regulated short selling in January 1994 and stock options in September
1995. Furthermore, the Exchange introduced the Growth Enterprise
Market (GEM) in November 1999 to provide fund raising opportunities
for growth companies of all sizes from all industries, and to promote the
development of technology industries in the region.

SHANGHAI STOCK EXCHANGE

The Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) is a stock exchange that is based

in the city of Shanghai, China. It is one of the two stock exchanges
operating independently in the People's Republic of China, the other
being the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. Shanghai Stock Exchange is the
world's 5th largest stock market by market capitalization at US$3.5
trillion as of February 2016, and 2nd largest in East Asia and Asia.
Unlike the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the Shanghai Stock Exchange is
still not entirely open to foreign investors due to tight capital account
controls exercised by the Chinese mainland authorities and often
manipulated by the decisions of the Central Government.

The current exchange was re-established on November 26, 1990 after a

41-year hiatus and was in operation on December 19 of the same year. It
is a non-profit organization directly administered by the China Securities
Regulatory Commission (CSRC).

The Shanghai Clearing House provides security for financial market

participants, and efficient clearing services development purposes, but
also conductive to international peers inter-agency communication and
cooperation. It provides central counterparty clearing of foreign currency
in the interbank market, including clearing, settlement, margin
management, collateral management, information services, consulting
services, and related management department under other business.

HISTORY OF SHANGHAI STOCK EXCHANGE

The formation of the International Settlement (foreign concession areas)

in Shanghai was the result of the Treaty of Nanking of 1842 (which
ended the First Opium War) and subsequent agreements between the
Chinese and foreign governments. The Shanghai International
Settlement was crucial to the development of foreign trade in China and
to the development of the foreign community in Shanghai. The market
for securities trading in Shanghai began in the late 1860s. The first
shares registrar appeared in June 1866. By then, Shanghai's International
Settlement had developed the conditions conducive to the emergence of
a share market: several banks, a legal framework for joint-stock
companies, and an interest in diversification among the established
trading houses (although the trading houses themselves remained
partnerships).

In 1891 during the boom in mining shares, foreign businessmen founded

the "Shanghai Share brokers' Association" headquartered in Shanghai as
China's first stock exchange. In 1904 the Association applied for
registration in Hong Kong under the provision of the Companies
ordinance and was renamed as the "Shanghai Stock Exchange".

The supply of securities came primarily from local companies. In the

early days, banks dominated private shares but, by 1880, only the Hong
Kong and Shanghai local banks remained. Merchant Exchange" started
operation respectively. An amalgamation eventually took place in 1929,
and the combined markets operated thereafter as the "Shanghai Stock
Exchange".

Shipping, insurance, and docks persisted to 1940 but were

overshadowed by industrial shares after the Treaty of Shimonoseki of
1895, which permitted Japan, and by extension other nations which had
treaties with China, to establish factories in Shanghai and other treaty
ports. Rubber plantations became the staple of stock trading beginning in
the second decade of the 20th century.

STRUCTURE

 The securities listed at the SSE include the three main categories of
stocks, bonds, and funds. Bonds traded on SSE include treasury
bonds (T-bond), corporate bonds, and convertible corporate bonds.
SSE T-bond market is the most active of its kind in China. There
are two types of stocks being issued in the Shanghai Stock
Exchange: "A" shares and "B" shares.
  “A” shares are priced in the local renminbi yuan currency, while B
shares are quoted in U.S. dollars. Initially, trading in A shares are
restricted to domestic investors only while B shares are available to
both domestic (since 2001) and foreign investors. However, after
reforms were implemented in December 2002, foreign investors
are now allowed (with limitations) to trade in A shares under the
Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) program which was
officially launched in 2003. Currently, a total of 98 foreign
institutional investors have been approved to buy and sell A shares
under the QFII program. Quotas under the QFII program are
currently US$30 billion. There has been a plan to eventually merge
the two types of shares in the future.
 The SSE is open for trading every Monday to Friday. The morning
session begins with centralized competitive pricing from 09:15 to
09:25, and continues with consecutive bidding from 09:30 to 11:30

. KOREA STOCK EXCHANGE

The Stock Market Division of Korea Exchange, formerly an independent

South Korean exchange, was established in 1956. Some of its milestones
include the launching of the Stock Index Futures Market in 1996 and the
Stock Index Options Market in 1997, as well as the adoption of
electronic trading in 1988, warrants trading in 2000, and equity options
and ETFs in 2002. Its traded instruments include stocks, bonds, ETFs
and REITs. The Korea Exchange was established in 2005 as a merger of
the Korea Stock Exchange, the KOSDAQ and the Korea Futures
Exchange. The Korea Exchange is one of Asia's largest exchanges with
around 1,800 listed companies.

Korea Exchange (KRX) is the sole securities exchange operator in

South Korea. It is headquartered in Busan, and has an office for cash
markets and market oversight in Seoul

HISTORY OF KOREA STOCK EXCHANGE

The Korea Exchange was created through the integration of Korea Stock
Exchange, Korea Futures Exchange and KOSDAQ Stock Market under
the Korea Stock & Futures Exchange Act. The securities and derivatives
markets of former exchanges are now business divisions of Korea
Exchange: the Stock Market Division, KOSDAQ Market Division and
Derivatives Market Division. As of January 2015, Korea Exchange
had2,030 listed companies with a combined market capitalization of
$1.2 trillion. Sustainable Stock Exchanges .The exchange has normal
trading sessions from 09:00 am to 03:30 pm on all days of the week
except Saturdays, Sundays and holidays declared by the Exchange in
advance.

On 22 May 2015, The Korea Exchange joined the United Nations

Sustainable Stock Exchanges initiative in an event with the UN-SG Ban
Ki-moon in attendance, as well as senior officials from UN Global
Compact and UNCTAD.

RX, Korea Exchange Inc., established in January 2005 through the

merger of the Korea Stock Exchange (KSE), the Korea Futures
Exchange (KOFEX), the KOSDAQ Market, and the KOSDAQ
Committee, is the sole exchange in the Republic of Korea. KRX
operates the centralized securities and derivatives markets where stocks,
bonds and derivatives are traded on a common platform called
EXTURE. KRX offers:

 Full access to both derivatives and cash markets.

 Clearing and settlement of all transactions on its markets as a one-
stop service.