Vienna Stock Exchange (WBAG)

The Vienna Stock Exchange is one of the oldest stock exchanges in the world, having been founded all the way back in 1771 by Maria Theresia. The exchange quickly became important to the monarchy – and remained so for centuries. The exchange saw a rapid expansion during the industrialisation of the 19th century, managed to maintain its economic importance in Europe throughout the World Wars of the 20th, and was eventually privatised in 1998.

Today, the Vienna Stock Exchange has a modern infrastructure with a focus on market and consumer needs. Not only does it have traditional exchange operations (listings and tradings), but the WBAG has also established new business lines within the past few years. This includes providing IT services to other exchanges in Eastern and Central Europe, as well as index calculation and data vending. This diversification has enabled the exchange to keep expanding, even after nearly 250 years.

The leading index of the Vienna Stock Exchange is the Austrian traded Index (ATX). It is a blue-chip index which tracks the performance of 20 of the most commonly traded stocks on the Wiener Börse. It was launched in 1991 and is reviewed twice a year, with the primary criteria for a company’s stock to be included being trading volume and free-float market capitalisation.