The Colombia Securities Exchange (, bvc) is a stock exchange which was created as a result of merging three independent stock exchanges: Bogotá (Bolsa de Bogotá, 1928), Medellín (Bolsa de Medellín, 1961) and Occidente (Bolsa de Occidente, Cali, 1983). It has offices in Bogotá, Medellín and Cali. Furthermore, with the bvc Training Centers the company is located in 19 Colombian cities through agreements with universities and chambers of commerce.
As an infrastructure provider and securities issuer, the bvc is overseen by the Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia. Its main function is to be financing alternative for the productive system, through direct investment. The bvc does not have regulatory or oversight functions.
History
The idea of a stock exchange in Colombia occurred originally in Medellín at the beginning of the 20th century with an initiative in 1901 and then in Bogotá in 1903 with an unsuccessful outcome. It was not only until the late 1920s when the political and socio-economic landscape seemed to give more opportunities of survival.
It was in mid-1928 when a group of entrepreneurs and government officials from Colombia and abroad organized the promotion of the Bogotá Stock Exchange (Sp. Bolsa de Bogotá) so they could establish the judicial and operational framework of the newly created organization. Former Minister of Economy and jurist Jorge Soto del Corral composed the regulations of the new entity and on November 23 of 1928 the public title 1702 was signed and constituted the Bogotá Stock Exchange as a public limited company. On May 6, 1929, the first board of trustees was elected.
In March 1929 the first 17 traders were assigned by Banking Superintendent Gonzalo Cordoba and on April 25 corporations and organizations registered their shares, this included banks, financial service companies and manufacturing and commercial services corporations.