{"id":4776,"date":"2016-12-21T11:10:17","date_gmt":"2016-12-21T11:10:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/?p=4776"},"modified":"2016-12-21T11:10:17","modified_gmt":"2016-12-21T11:10:17","slug":"the-first-stock-exchange-the-voc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/the-first-stock-exchange-the-voc\/","title":{"rendered":"The first Stock Exchange \u2013 the VOC"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Netherlands can boast of many firsts in history that have changed the way we live and interact. One of these was right at the early stages of the country\u2019s independence from Spain: the first stock exchange or the aandelenmarkt.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Amsterdam Stock Exchange (photo taken by Jorden Esser found on Flickr.com)<\/p><\/div>\n

First, a little history<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the 1500s, Portugal was the leader of trade with the East Indies. A group of Dutchmen wanted to see if they could cut the Portuguese middle men and begin selling themselves. After what was a terrible expedition with many deaths and two in-boat arrests, the Dutch expedition made it to Java and thus began the journey towards becoming the dominant sea force for years to come.<\/p>\n

We need some money!<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie <\/em>or the VOC was founded in 1602 after the Dutch Republic granted it a charter for the next 21 years. People were then encouraged to invest in this new company and over one thousand investors from Amsterdam invested. The charter was extended and the VOC remained in business for almost two centuries.<\/p>\n

Shortly after, people started selling their shares to the VOC, and what we now know as the stock market was inaugurated. When a former founder of the VOC was accused of speculating to drive down the price, the Dutch Republic intervened creating the first financial regulation by the government. It seems that from the very beginning, the same activities and sometimes scandals of the stock markets was present. The following video explains in more detail how the buying and selling of shares began.<\/p>\n