JSE Limited (previously the JSE Securities Exchange and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange) is the largest stock exchange in Africa. It is located in Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa, after it moved from downtown Johannesburg in 2000. In 2003 the JSE had an estimated 473 listed companies and a market capitalisation of US$182.6 billion (€158 billion), as well as an average monthly traded value of US$6.399 billion (€5.5 billion). As of March 2022, the market capitalisation of the JSE was at US$1.36 trillion. History The discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand in 1886 led to many mining and financial companies opening and a need soon arose for a stock exchange. The first share transactions on the Rand took place in a rustic canvas tent, with trade taking place on Sundays, as this was the only day when mining was not allowed, owing to a strictly enforced regulation prohibiting the entry of African workers to the gold reefs. The Johannesburg Exchange & Chambers Company was established by a London businessman, Benjamin Minors Woollan and housed at the corner of Commissioner and Simmonds Streets. Out of this the JSE was born on 8 November 1887. What immediately gave the JSE a clear advantage over exchanges such as Kimberley, Barberton, and, most importantly, London, was that listing of companies for a quotation on the Official List of the JSE was an easy and relatively cheap procedure. This relatively simple and non-restricting nature of the early Exchange promoted a wave of initial registrations on the Official List, with 68 companies by the end of November 1887. The Official List further expanded to more than 300 companies by the end of January 1890. By 1890 the trading hall became too small and had to be rebuilt but this too was outgrown. Trading then moved into the street. The Mining Commissioner closed off Simmonds Street between Market Square and Commissioner Street by means of chains. In 1903, a new building was built for the JSE on Hollard Street. It was a storey building that took up an entire whole city block bounded by Fox and Main, Hollard and Sauer Streets. After World War II, it became apparent that this building was again inadequate and in 1947 the decision was made to rebuild the stock exchange. It took 11 years before construction began and in February 1961 the second exchange at Hollard Street was officially opened. By 1963, the