Vancouver Stock Exchange

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Vancouver Stock Exchange
TypeRegional stock exchange
LocationVancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Founded1906
ClosedNovember 29, 1999

The Vancouver Stock Exchange (VSE) was a stock exchange based in Vancouver, British Columbia. It was incorporated 1906. On November 29, 1999, the VSE was merged into the Canadian Venture Exchange (CDNX).

History[edit]

It was incorporated 1906[1] and was the third major stock exchange in Canada, after the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and Montreal Stock Exchange (MSE), and featured many small-capitalization, mining, oil and gas-exploration stocks.[2]

In 1989, Forbes magazine labelled the VSE the "scam capital of the world."[3] In 1991, it listed some 2,300 stocks. Some local figures[citation needed] stated that the majority of these stocks were either total failures or frauds. A 1994 report by James Matkin (Vancouver Stock Exchange & Securities Regulation Commission) made reference to "shams, swindles and market manipulations" within the VSE.[4] Regardless, it had roughly C$4 billion in annual trading in 1991.[5]

On November 29, 1999, the VSE was merged into the Canadian Venture Exchange (CDNX) (now known as the TSX Venture Exchange), along with the Alberta Stock Exchange (ASE) and the minor-cap stocks from the Bourse de Montréal (MSE). The trading floor of the old VSE remained as the trading floor of the new CDNX.

Rounding errors on its Index price[edit]

The history of the exchange's index provides an example of large errors arising from the accumulation of seemingly minor round-off errors. In January 1982 the index was initialized at 1000 and iteratively updated with each subsequent trade. After each update, the index was truncated to three decimal places. The truncated value was used to calculate the next value of the index. Updates occurred approximately 3000 times each day. The accumulated truncations led to an erroneous loss of around 25 points per month. Over the weekend of November 25–28, 1983, the error was corrected, raising the value of the index from its Friday closing figure of 524.811 to 1098.892.[6][7]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "The History of Metropolitan Vancouver - Chronology 1906 - 1908". www.vancouverhistory.ca.
  2. ^ "Downtown: Defunct VSE had colourful history". Vancouver Courier. February 28, 2013. Retrieved April 21, 2022.
  3. ^ Scam capital of the world Forbes May 29, 1989
  4. ^ High Risks Don't Deter U.S. Funds From Vancouver Deals, New York Times, August 8, 1994.[1]
  5. ^ Behar, R. (May 6, 1991). "Mining money in Vancouver". Time. Vol. 137, no. 18. p. 54. ISSN 0040-781X.
  6. ^ Quinn, Kevin (November 8, 1983). "Ever Had Problems Rounding Off Figures? This Stock Exchange Has". The Wall Street Journal. p. 37. ProQuest 134780087.(subscription required)
  7. ^ The Toronto Star, November 29, 1983

Further reading[edit]

Cruise, David; Griffiths, Alison. Fleecing the Lamb: The Inside Story of the Vancouver Stock Exchange. Douglas & Mcintyre Ltd. 1987 ISBN 978-0888945587

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