Museum breaks down the Stock Exchange in downtown São Paulo; see photos

From public squares in the center of Rio de Janeiro in the late 1800s to the electronic touch that marks the debut of an action today on the B3, through the hands-free trading sessions in which, shouting, dozens of operators transmitted purchase orders and stock sales in the 1980s.

The history of the capital market in the country is recounted in an immersive way at the Museu da Bolsa do Brasil (MUB3), recently opened in downtown São Paulo, in the same building where the B3 is located.

In chronological order, the visitor knows the main moments that culminated in the Brazilian Stock Exchange as we know it today. According to the organizers, it is the first museum dedicated to the capital market in South America.

Right at the entrance of the museum, the environment takes the visitor to the scene of the first securities negotiations on record, in Rio de Janeiro at the end of the 19th century, when the currency in force was still the réis.

Meetings in the city that was then the capital of the country used to take place in a square on Rua Direita (currently Rua 1º de Março), in the center of the city, and were intended for the negotiation of agricultural products such as coffee and cotton, as well as currency exchange. , ship freight and public debt policies.

In São Paulo, the meeting took place near Praça do Rosário, currently Praça Antônio Prado, in the historic center of São Paulo, where one of the Stock Exchange’s buildings is located until today.

Objects such as the quinteiro, a kind of measuring scale used to calculate the part of the tax due to the Portuguese Crown on the gold traded in the country (corresponding to 20%, or a fifth), can also be known by visitors.

The first commercial offices set up at the beginning of the last century in São Paulo are also portrayed, as well as models with the trading wheels in which brokers positioned themselves in the old out-of-the-box trading sessions on the stock exchange to buy and sell a certain share.

The visitor learns that the term “pregão” originated from the word “pregoar”, when market agents loudly announced their assets and goods.

Device for sending quotes was created by Thomas Edison

There are also artifacts that marked an era in the exhibition, such as the “ticker”, a receiver of quotations by telegraphic signals, equipment developed in the late 19th century in the United States by Thomas Edison for the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), and acquired by the Brazilian Stock Exchange. in the 1950s.

Until today, the term “ticker” is used to refer to the code by which shares are identified on trading floors.

The technological evolution of the capital market is portrayed: from the “stone age”, as the period in which share prices were recorded with chalk on blackboards, to electronic panels with real-time updating of quotations.

In addition to the history of the market, installations explain the great cycles of sectors that played an important role in the Brazilian economy, such as coffee, portrayed from agricultural plantations, through supermarkets, family tables, to contracts linked to the future sale of coffee. product by investors.

Museum wants to help decipher the language of the market

“The museum, in addition to bringing the historical perspective, of how the capital market contributed to the economic development of Brazil, brings educational elements to explain the importance of stock exchanges, the financial market, and how this connects with the daily lives of people”, says Christianne Bariquelli, superintendent of B3 Educacional.

Glossaries with information about the alphabet soup made up of investment products launched over the last few years, such as IR (Income Tax)-exempt securities — CRIs (Receivables Certificates), CRAs (Certificados de Receivíveis do Agribusiness), LCIs (Immobiliary Letters of Credit) and LCAs (Agricultural Letters of Credit)—, BDRs (Brazilian Depositary Receipt), certificates representing global shares, and FIIs (real estate funds), are also on the visitors’ itinerary.

“Money is in everyone’s life, but not everyone has the skill or confidence to deal with it. The museum helps people understand some aspects of money, financial management and the importance of investing for the formation of heritage”, says Christianne.

The superintendent adds that, in addition to going through the history of the market, the museum proposes to generate a provocation, in the sense of instigating the visitor to project what the future of this financial universe in the country could be.

“Even with the cycle of rising interest rates, people are learning the concept of diversification. This represents the present and what we can expect from the future of the market.”

Finally, close to the museum exit, the visitor can still take a picture in a setting that reproduces the traditional ringing of the bell, in a replica of the pulpit that serves as the stage for ceremonies held when a new action or investment fund debuts in B3.

Timeline of Stock Exchanges in Brazil

1817 Foundation of the 1st Stock Exchange in Brazil, in Salvador

1851 Foundation of the Rio de Janeiro Stock Exchange

1890 Foundation of Bolsa Livre de São Paulo (predecessor of Bovespa)

1968 Ibovespa broad stock index launched

1986 Start of BM&F activities (Mercantile and Futures Exchange)

2000 Integration of the nine still operating regional Stock Exchanges to Bovespa

2005 Bovespa’s last open outcry trading session

2008 Merger between BM&F and Bovespa creates BM&FBovespa

2017 Approval of the merger with Cetip and creation of B3

Service: MUB3 (Brazil Stock Exchange Museum)

Opening hours: Monday to Friday and the 2nd and 4th Saturday of the month, from 9 am to 5 pm
Address: Rua XV de Novembro, 275 – Downtown, São Paulo (SP)
Accessibility: audioguide, videolibraries, works and tactile models, subtitles in enlarged font and Braille, ramps and accessible restrooms
Prohibited: free