In the spotlight: The Warsaw Stock Exchange

These considerable losses are all the more worrying since the WSE is a key financial market in Europe, with more than 368 firms listed and a capitalization of zł.409.4 billion. In August, the WSE became the largest bourse in the CEE region in terms of capitalization, overtaking the Vienna Stock Exchange. Among European bourses this year, it has been second only to the London Stock Exchange in terms of number and value of debuts.

Launched in 1991, the WSE is a joint-stock company with a share capital of zł.41.9 million. The State Treasury holds a 98.81 percent stake, and its other shareholders include almost 40 entities, including banks and brokerage firms. Instruments traded on the WSE include shares, bonds, subscription rights, allotment certificates, investment certificates and derivative instruments.

While the Warsaw bourse has been continuously operating for under 20 years, its roots stretch back to 1817, when the first Mercantile Exchange was founded in Warsaw. Shortly before the World War II, seven stock exchanges operated in Poland, although 90 percent of all trading occurred in Warsaw. 

After WWII, the capital market was banned in the centrally planned communist regime for almost 50 years. Ironically, the reincarnated stock exchange found a new home in the former Communist Party's Central Committee building. Since 2000, the bourse has occupied a modern building on ul. Książęca.

The first foreign company to enter the WSE was Bank Austria Creditanstalt AG in 2003.