ABSTRACT
Since their inception in the 1890s, Alexandria Stock Exchange (ASE) and Cairo Stock Exchange (CSE) have played an important role in mobilizing resources for the Egyptian economy. The CSE was the third stock exchange to be founded after the London and Brussels Stock Exchanges respectively. As early as 1906, there were 328 joint-stock companies traded on the CSE with a total capital of 91 million Egyptian pounds. In 1909 the secondary market was officially regulated through the promulgation of the first Stock Exchange Act. Until the late 1950s, the economy was led by privately-owned companies, many of which were publicly held through offerings and subscriptions. These companies constituted the core of the Egyptian Stock Market.
