Joint stock company

A joint stock company (JSC) is a type of business entity: it is a type of corporation or partnership involving two or more legal persons. Certificates of ownership (or stocks) are issued by the company in return for each financial contribution, and the shareholders are free to transfer their ownership interest at any time by selling their stockholding to others.

In most countries, a joint stock company offers the protection of limited liability; a shareholder is not liable for any of the company's debt beyond the face value of their shareholding.

There are two kinds of joint stock company; the private company kind and the public company. The shares of the former are usually only held by the directors and Company Secretary. The shares of the latter are bought and sold on the open market.

In Russia (the former Soviet Union) the term JSC is used for ex-State Enterprises that are now under a more free business regime. Their business conditions are somewhat different from Joint Stock Companies in western countries.

Exchange Alley

Exchange Alley or Change Alley is a narrow alleyway connecting shops and coffeehouses in an old neighbourhood of the City of London in England, bounded by Lombard Street, Cornhill and Birchin Lane. It served as a convenient shortcut from the Royal Exchange to the Post Office. The shops included ship chandlers, makers of instruments for navigation such as telescopes, and goldsmiths from Lombardy.

The coffee houses of Exchange Alley, especially Jonathan's and Garraway's, became an early venue for the lively trading of stocks and commodities. These activities were the progenitor of the London Stock Exchange. Similarly, Edward Lloyd's coffee house, at 16, Lombard Street but originally on Tower Street, was the forerunner of Lloyd's of London, Lloyd's Register and Lloyd's List.