UK financial market forms a strong segment of the national economy of the United Kingdom. The UK financial market represents UK stock market, UK bond market, UK commodities market, UK forex market and all traders and financial organizations operating in these markets.
The London Stock Exchange or LSE is the principal financial institution in the domain of UK financial market. The LSE was incorporated in the year 1801. The London Stock Exchange is one of the major stock exchanges of the world and it is the most significant stock exchange in the European continent. It is also one of the earliest stock exchanges of the world. With its excellent level of expertise and experience, the London Stock Exchange has placed itself as an important figure in the worldwide financial market. Because of this, the UK financial market has become the level playing ground for a number of multinational companies who are regarded as world leaders.
The UK financial market is considered as the most international financial market simply due to the reason that the number of international corporations participating in the UK financial market is the highest in comparison to any other stock exchanges in the world. The London Stock Exchange has partnered with other international stock exchanges of Africa and Asia and this has enhanced the scope of the UK financial market to a significant extent.
The UK stock market can be divided into the following segments:
- Main market
- Alternative Investments Market (AIM)
- EDX London (dealing with derivatives)
The official stock market index of the London Stock Exchange is the Footsie or FTSE. For the purpose of measuring the price movements of the stocks and shares of the LSE, a series of indices has been implemented. This series is supervised by the FTSE group.
The indices include the following:
- FTSE 100 Index
- FTSE 250 Index
- FTSE 350 Index
- FTSE All Share Index
- FTSE AIM All Share Index
- FTSE techMARK All Share Index
The UK financial market is a well-regulated and fundamentally strong market.
The leading financial service providers in the UK include the following:
- Lloyds TSB Bank
- Cheltenham & Gloucester
- Halifax
- Standard Chartered Bank
- Northern Rock
- HSBC
- Barclays
- Nationwide
- Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS)
- Newcastle Building Society