Vetalian Combined Stock Exchange
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Overview
The Vetalian Combined Stock Exchange, or VCSE, is both the largest exchange in Vetalia and one of the largest in the world. It lists 12,000 companies in 10 industries, which are further subdivided in to 48 supersectors, 126 sectors and 433 subsectors. The net market capitalization as of 2023 is $182 trillion, slightly larger than the entire GDP of the nation.
Within the main index, there are numerous smaller sector indices and several notable "independent" indices that track particular industries. The most influential of these are the Cabilia Semiconductor Exchange and the Vetalia City Cybernetics Exchange. ETFs are some of the most popular investment choices on the market today for their ability to tap in to entire sectors of the market and maximize investor returns with less risk than individual stocks. The exchange employs millions of people directly and indirectly and is a major contributor to the economic health of Xilare as well as Vetalia City.
Trading Hours
The VCSE trading hours are divided in to three classes, Normal, Institutional and Block. These classes are organized based upon the value and quantity of shares traded:
Normal is defined as trades of 1 share to .5% of net shares of a listed company outstanding. There is no limit to the degree of price volatility during Normal hours, namely 9 AM to 5 PM/Monday to Friday. Average volume during Normal hours is 23 billion shares traded, with that number well over 30 billion on options expiration days.
Institutional is defined as trades between 0.51% and 2.99% of shares outstanding. Price volatility is limited to 10% +/-. Institutional trading occurs from 5 PM to 9 PM Monday to Friday. Average volume is 7.5 billion shares, with that number generally approaching 10 billion at the start of each quarter. On the day of a company's earnings report, price volatility is loosened to 15% +/-.
Block is defined as trades greater than 3% of shares outstanding. Price volatility is limited to 7% +/- at all times. Block trading occurs on Saturday from 9 AM to 12 PM, with volume around 2.7 billion shares. Rarely, volume will peak above 3 billion shares, but only during periods of M&A activity.
Exchange Laws
To trade on the VCSE, a company must meet the requirements outlined in the Revised Securities Code of 227. Failiure to meet requirements can result in financial penalties or possible delisting from the exchange. The company stock must also trade at or above 0.50 Solaris/share, or it will be delisted and placed on an "over the counter" exchange.
Traders require both a Vetalian Securities Board License as well as a VCSE license, which costs upwards of Ş15 million and must be renewed once every 10 years. This cost is paid for by their brokerages, as independent traders are not permitted on the floor. Brokerages must themselves recieve licensing from the VSB as well as the Fiduciary Insurance Office and the Vetalian Expense Accounting Bureau, both of which are part of the Ministry of Finance. Licensing does not take a considerable amount of time, given the massive degree of technology implemented in the exchange and government, but is costly. These licenses, along with recurring fees, cost an average of $2.10 billion/year.
Technology of the Exchange
The VCSE is a leader in the implementation of advanced technology for ensuring a secure system of stock trading impervious to outside disruptions. There are six massive server complexes in the system capable of handling up to 50 billion shares of volume per day; the VCSE has recently set a goal of increasing capacity to 75 billion shares by the year 2035. They are located on VCSE property in Xilare and are protected by literally hundreds of security systems, both within the programs themselves and physical security. A staff of 600 maintain the core servers, in addition to the thousands of smaller grid servers in other major cities and the massive online trading platform known as Vnet.
VCSE has announced its intentions of creating a second-generation version of its extremely successful sentient-AI security program known as the "Sentient Interdiction System". It will ideally be launched in 2034, shortly before the new server complexes come online. These systems have not only shown their efficacy at managing the stock market but have produced their own innovative research in fields such as finance and econometrics thanks to their experience with handling the data. Many of them go on to serve as advisors for financial corporations, and one AI currently holds a position on the Vetalian Central Bank.
History of the Exchange
Imperial Era
The earliest exchange founded in Vetalia was the Vetalian Bourse, founded in 1903 in the then-capitol of Xilare. It was small, listing no more than 200 companies, but established Vetalia as a financial power. Over the succeeding decades, the exchange grew and by 1945 was the fifth largest in the world with nearly 2,700 companies listed. At this time, the name was changed to the Vetalian Stock Exchange and construction began on what is know known as the Old Exchange Building in Xilare. However, over the succeeding decade, the exchange became swept up in the "Nifty Fifty" Bubble (a speculative bubble lasting from 1940-1945 B.E.) and this proved disasterous financially for the VSE. Wracked by financial scandals, the collapse of around $500 billion in nominal equity wealth (roughly $6 trillion today), and the onset of a recession, the exchange filed for bankruptcy in 1950, just before the start of the Vetalian Revolution. In fact, it was the economic ramifications of this collapse, as well as the Imperial government's lack of action on the situation, that were partially responsible for the surge in antipathy towards the Empire that led to its dissolution.
As part of its settlement, the exchange was split in two; the Vetalian Exchange would focus primarily on industrial, materials, and consumer-goods companies, while the Vetalia Integrated Trading Platform would deal primarily with high-tech companies and financial servics. The VITP's trading model, which was a pioneer in the use of telephones and computers as a way of accelerating trading and providing more real-time data, is in fact the inspiration for the current electronic VCSE model.
The history of the exchange was changed again with the outbreak of civil war in 1950. Xilare, like many cities, was a battleground between the Imperial and Republican forces, with the two exchanges and their valuable communications serving as forward command centers for the Republic. The VITP and the VE were both captured by Republican troops shortly before the fall of Vetalia City, the national capitol, in June of 1955. Following the end of the war, the decision was made to keep the exchange located in Xilare, although many financial companies would relocate their headquarters from Xilare to Vetalia City when the city's more attractive tax structure made it more desirable to operate there.
Recovery and Growth Under the Republic and Technocratic Union: 1955 to 2012
In the aftermath of the war, Vetalia was temporarily beset by a nationwide depression, with high unemployment, soaring inflation, and shortages of many consumer goods. However, the commitment of the new government to economic recovery led to stimulative fiscal and monetary policy, increased government spending on infrastructure and education, and the enactment of large numbers of environmental and worker-protection laws as a way of addressing the economic imbalances of the Imperial era. These policies were successful, with economic growth advancing at a 10.2% pace in 1955-1960 and gradually falling to its present average of 3-4% as the economy returned to full output. The reconstruction efforts did not forget the VITP and VE, and both were reconstructed and opened for trading again by 1956.
Over the succeeding years, the Republic reinstituted and in many cases expanded the Republic-era securities laws, especially in the 1960's and 1970's as the economy emerged from reconstruction and huge gains in disposable income renewed interest in securities. As a result, the indices continued to regain their world influence and the financial services sector grew healthily. By 1975, the index value of the exchange surpassed that of the old VSE at its peak, and by 1982 there were 3,000 companies listed. Healthy economic growth in the 1980's brought that number up to 5,500, although a spate of M&A activity as well as the collapse of another economic bubble in the late 1980's brought that number back to around 3,900 by 1993. In the year 2012, the market cap of the Vetalian Exchange hit $23 trillion and that of the VITP (second generation) was $17.7 trillion.
The Exchange Wars: 2012-2016 and the Merger of 2019
The year 2012 was a watershed year in the Vetalian equities market. Strong economic growth pushed the VITP to a peak of 12,000 in late 2012, and the economy grew rapidly as investment in new fields boosted growth and corporate profits. Trading volume soared as the economy saw its next major phase of technological advancement, particularly in the areas of information technology, cybernetics, biotechnology, and space exploration. However, these industries were primarily listed on the VITP, which resulted in its market cap growing far more rapidly than the VE during this period. This began the so called exchange wars, which were particularly brutal during the bear market of 2013-2015, which had been spurred by cyclical factors as well as the collapse of the technology bubble and the commodities markets. As a result, both exchanges were constantly vying for more market share and investment; however, this competition would result in the deployment of the first generation SIS AI system by the VITP in 2014. This action was taken in response to a hacking of the VITP databases which erased some $2.2 trillion in stock transactions and was one of the worst single-day percentage losses since the late 1980's.
The SIS proved to be the downfall of the Vetalian Exchange, since it enabled the VITP to save millions per year on security systems and enabled them to invest in improvements in interface and order-processing. Further complicating the situation was a glut in various industrial goods and machinery caused by overinvestment during the earlier part of the decade, which dampened the performance of most VE companies and reduced the appeal of large industrials for investors. Lastly, the 2017 revision of the Vetalian General Securities Code revoked the strict segregation of companies between the exchanges, and many industrials joined the VITP to take advantage of its superior trading system. With its market share dwindling and companies leaving, the Vetalian Exchange submitted a formal agreement to merge with the VITP in 2019.
The merger remains the most valuable to date, with a net value of $65.3 trillion dollars. The exchange was renamed the Vetalian Combined Stock Exchange in 2019. At the time of completion of the merger, there were 7,500 companies listed with combined capitalization of $67.9 trilion.
Vetalian Combined Stock Exchange Corporation
In 2021, the decision was made to host a public offering of VCSEC, effectively trading shares of the company on the exchange itself. The VSCEC, ticker symbol VSEC, provides licensing and trading services and oversees the running of the Exchange and its technology. As of 233, the company employs 21,000 people in the 11 major regions of Vetalia and had a proft of $17.5 billion in 2023 on revenue of 239.47 billion, or $6.26/Share. The stock is currently trading at around $93/share.
The corporation plans to add up to 2,000 staff over the next 5 years to keep pace with the growth in volume and the addition of new server capacity. The corporation is headquartered at the VCSE Tower in Xilare, with a secondary headquarters in Vetalia City.
