How it all began: the rise of listing requirements on the London, Berlin, Paris, and New York stock exchanges

The issue of accounting standards for foreign securities listed on a stock exchange arose gradually over the period 1825-1914 among the leading exchanges in the first global financial market—London, New York, Paris, and Berlin. Comparing their listing requirements on the eve of World War I, we find that the London and New York exchanges were most detailed, reflecting their common-law legal environments and their status as self-regulating organizations. The evolution of listing requirements in London and New York therefore influenced the development of accounting standards in those countries. By contrast, Paris and Berlin relied on validation of a security by political authorities. One result of these differences in legal and political environments was that American railroads issued the only securities to be listed on each of the four exchanges.