SERVE WHAT YOU LEARNT

Bombay Stock Exchange is the oldest stock exchange in Asia with a rich heritage, now spanning three centuries in its 133 years of existence. What is now popularly known as BSE was established as "The Native Share & Stock Brokers' Association" in 1875.

BSE is the first stock exchange in the country which obtained permanent recognition (in 1956) from the Government of India under the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act 1956. BSE's pivotal and pre-eminent role in the development of the Indian capital market is widely recognized. It migrated from the open outcry system to an online screen-based order driven trading system in 1995. Earlier an Association Of Persons (AOP), BSE is now a corporatised and demutualised entity incorporated under the provisions of the Companies Act, 1956, pursuant to the BSE (Corporatisation and Demutualisation) Scheme, 2005 notified by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). With demutualisation, BSE has two of world's best exchanges, Deutsche Börse and Singapore Exchange, as its strategic partners.

Over the past 133 years, BSE has facilitated the growth of the Indian corporate sector by providing it with an efficient access to resources. There is perhaps no major corporate in India which has not sourced BSE's services in raising resources from the capital market.

Today, BSE is the world's number 1 exchange in terms of the number of listed companies and the world's 5th in transaction numbers. The market capitalization as on December 31, 2007 stood at USD 1.79 trillion . An investor can choose from more than 4,700 listed companies, which for easy reference, are classified into A, B, S, T and Z groups.

The BSE Index, SENSEX, is India's first stock market index that enjoys an iconic stature , and is tracked worldwide. It is an index of 30 stocks representing 12 major sectors. The SENSEX is constructed on a 'free-float' methodology, and is sensitive to market sentiments and market realities. Apart from the SENSEX, BSE offers 21 indices, including 12 sectoral indices. BSE has entered into an index cooperation agreement with Deutsche Börse. This agreement has made SENSEX and other BSE indices available to investors in Europe and America. Moreover, Barclays Global Investors (BGI), the global leader in ETFs through its iShares® brand, has created the 'iShares® BSE SENSEX India Tracker' which tracks the SENSEX. The ETF enables investors in Hong Kong to take an exposure to the Indian equity market.

BSE has tied up with U.S. Futures Exchange (USFE) for U.S. dollar-denominated futures trading of SENSEX in the U.S. The tie-up enables eligible U.S. investors to directly participate in India's equity markets for the first time, without requiring American Depository Receipt (ADR) authorization. The first Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) on SENSEX, called "SPIcE" is listed on BSE. It brings to the investors a trading tool that can be easily used for the purposes of investment, trading, hedging and arbitrage. SPIcE allows small investors to take a long-term view of the market.

BSE also has a wide range of services to empower investors and facilitate smooth transactions:

• The World Council of Corporate Governance has awarded the Golden Peacock Global CSR Award for BSE's initiatives in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
• The Annual Reports and Accounts of BSE for the year ended March 31, 2006 and March 31 2007 have been awarded the ICAI awards for excellence in financial reporting.
• The Human Resource Management at BSE has won the Asia - Pacific HRM awards for its efforts in employer branding through talent management at work, health management at work and excellence in HR through technology