London marketplace for securities .
It was formed in 1773 by a group of stockbrokers who had been doing business informally in local coffeehouses. In 1801 its members raised money for construction of a building in Bartholomew Lane; they established rules for the exchange the following year. In 1973 the London Stock Exchange merged with several regional British stock exchanges. In 1991 the exchange replaced its governing council with a board of directors, and it became a public limited company.