Bratislava Stock Exchange j.s.c. (BSSE), founded through a Memorandum of Foundation from 8 January 1991 by banks and insurance companies, is the sole operator of a regulated market of securities in the Slovak Republic. Trading on the BSSE started on 6 April 1993, based on a licence issued by the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic to establish a Stock Exchange, organize the trading of securities and co-ordinate associated activities. From 26 June 2001, BSSE has been performing its activity on the basis of a licence to establish and operate a Stock Exchange, granted by the Financial Market Authority of the Slovak Republic. Following a decree of the National Bank of Slovakia, the licence was extended on 26 March 2008 to include the operation of a Multilateral Trading Facility (MTF).
BSSE is a joint-stock company whose activities are governed primarily by the Stock Exchange Act No 429/2002 (Coll.) on the Stock Exchange as amended by later legislation, other legal regulations and Stock Exchange Rules. BSSE operates on a membership principle, which means that only Stock Exchange Members (and National Bank of Slovakia) are authorised to directly conclude stock exchange transactions.