INTRODUCTION: A widely neither distributed nor such distress followed so quickly on the heels 1the equity brokerage industry in India is one of the oldest in the Asia region. India had an active stock market for about 150 years that played a significant role in developing risk markets as also promoting enterprise and supporting the growth of industry. The roots of a stock market in India began in the 1860s during the American Civil War that led to a sudden surge in the demand for cotton from India resulting in setting up of a number of joint stock companies that issued securities to raise finance. This trend was akin to the rapid growth of securities markets in Europe and the North America in the background of expansion of railroads and exploration of natural resources and land development. Historical r how to write an article ecords show that as early as 1864, there were about 1,000 brokers with the stock markets functioning from three places in Mumbai; between 9 am to 7 pm at the junction of Meadows Street and Rampart Row, from day break till 9 am and from 7 pm to early hours of next morning at Bazargate. Share prices rose sharply even at that time. A share of Colaba Land Company during the boom period of the 1860s rose from Rs 10,000 at par to Rs 120,000 and that of Backbay Shares went up from Rs 2,000 to Rs 54,000. Bombay, at that time, was a major financial centre having housed 31 banks, 20 insurance companies and 62 joint stock companies. Reports on stock markets around that time indicate that an ordinary broker in 1864 earned about Rs 200 per day, a huge sum in those days. The boom period came to an abrupt end in 1865.
