The Borsa İstanbul (abbreviated as BIST) is the sole exchange entity of Turkey combining the former Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE) (), the Istanbul Gold Exchange () and the Derivatives Exchange of Turkey () under one umbrella. It was established as an incorporated company with a founding capital of 423,234,000 (approx. US$240 million) on April 3, 2013, and began to operate on April 5, 2013. Its slogan is worth investing. Shareholders of Borsa İstanbul are: 49% Government of Turkey, 41% IMKB, 5% VOB, 4% IMKB members, 1% IMKB brokers and 0.3% IAB members. It is planned that all the Government-owned shares will be offered for sale. Among the executives of the nine-member board of directors, which is presided by chairman Himmet Karadağ, are former deputy chairman of ISE Osman Akyüz, former head of VOB Işınsu Kestelli, Merrill Lynch Investment Bank General Manager Hüseyin Kelezoğlu and Chairman of Turkish Association of Capital Market Intermediary Institutions Attila Köksal. History Early days of the securities market in Turkey The origin of an organized securities market in Turkey has its roots in the second half of the 19th century. The first securities market in the Ottoman Empire was established in Istanbul in 1866 for refinancing the Ottoman foreign debt taken during the Crimean War (1853–1856) through government bonds. With a law in 1873 it was formally renamed as the Dersaadet Securities Exchange (Turkish: Dersaadet Tahvilat Borsası). It created a medium for European investors who were seeking higher returns in the vast Ottoman markets. Following the proclamation of the Turkish Republic, a new law was enacted in 1929 to reorganize the fledgling capital markets under the new name of "Istanbul Securities and Foreign Exchange Bourse". Soon, the Bourse became very active and contributed substantially to the funding requirements of new enterprises across the country. However, its success was clouded by a string of events, including the Great Depression of 1929 and the impending World War II abroad which had taken their toll in the just developing business world in Turkey. During the industrial drive of the subsequent decades, there was a continuous increase in the number and size of joint stock companies, which began to open up their equity to the public. Those mature shares faced a strong and growing demand from mostly individual investors and some institutional investors. 1980s to the present The early phase of the 1980s saw a marked improvement in the Turkish