Trading forward: The Paris Bourse in the nineteenth century

Paul Lagneau-Ymonet (1, 2) , Angelo Riva (3, 4, 5)

1 IRISSO - Institut de Recherche Interdisciplinaire en Sciences Sociales
2 PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres
3 IREBS - Institut de recherche de l'European Business School
4 PSE - Paris School of Economics
5 PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques

Contrary to what law and finance theory would predict, the Paris Bourse was highly liquid at the turn of the twentieth century: the traded volumes amounted to four times the French GDP. This magnitude was mainly due to forward trading. The Bourse had developed as a forward market, despite a ban on forward transactions. The guild-like body running the Bourse played a key role in legitimizing and legalizing these operations, previously equated with gambling. The 1885 legalizing act initiated a new field of law (‘securities law’) and paved the way for the heyday of the Paris Bourse.

Mots clés: Financial markets; legal origin; nineteenth century; traded volumes; France

Domaines: Economies et finances

Paul Lagneau-Ymonet, Angelo Riva. Trading forward: The Paris Bourse in the nineteenth century. Business History, 2018, 60 (2), pp.257-280. ⟨10.1080/00076791.2017.1316487⟩. ⟨halshs-01630655⟩