Palais Brongniart

This neo-classic stock exchange, modern “Temple of Money” was founded by Napoleon in 1808.

Exhibits illustrating Bourse activity, past and present, are displayed in a suite of rooms on the first floor of the stock exchange building.

The Bourse in the past

The visit starts with a look at the past, through an exhibit on architect Alexandre Theodore Brongniart and the construction of the stock exchange building. It continues in the former office of the head of the Compagnie des Agents de Change, and moves on to a description of the paintings, viewed from the gallery overlooking the floor where derivatives are traded. The “Corbeille” is on display in a room designed to give visitors an idea of the atmosphere that prevailed in the days of chalk and blackboards.

And nowadays

Visitors can contrast this view of the market’s past with a look at current operations. Films and commentaries take them through seven films and exhibits explaining the role of stockmarkets in today’s economy, basic principles underlying regulated markets, the Paris Bourse in the world, Paris Bourse structures and markets, computerized trading in equities, floor trading on the Monep and Matif, and screen-based dissemination of market data.