Oslo Stock Exchange Definition
Oslo Stock Exchange (Oslo Brs in Norwegian) serves as the main market for trading in shares of Norwegian companies.
Oslo Stock Exchange started its life as Christiania Brs in 1819. In the beginning, there was no organized listing or stock exchange; the Brs served as a meeting place for investors auctioning ships, shares in ships, commodities, and foreign currencies. Stocks and bonds only started trading on the exchange in 1881.
In 1988, the exchange introduced electronic trading support system, and replaced the old auction model with continuous trading of listed shares throughout the day. Trading became fully electronic in 1999 and the trading floor was discontinued.
Oslo Stock Exchange remained a self-owning institution until 2001 when it converted into a joint stock company and offered shares to the public in an IPO. DnB NOR owns 18% of the company, with the rest of the shares held by many foreign and domestic investors.