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The Colombia Stock Exchange (BVC) was created as a result of merging the three independent stock exchanges of Bogotá (Bolsa de Bogotá, 1928), Medellín (Bolsa de Medellín, 1961) and Occidente (Bolsa de Occidente, Cali, 1983). It has offices in Bogotá, Medellín, and Cali. Furthermore, with the BVC Training Centers, the company is located in 19 Colombian cities through agreements with universities and chambers of commerce. As an infrastructure provider and securities issuer, the BVC is overseen by the Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia. Its main function is to be financing alternative for the productive system, through direct investment. The BVC does not have regulatory or oversight functions. The idea of a stock exchange in Colombia occurred originally in Medellín at the beginning of the 20th century with an initiative in 1901 and then in Bogotá in 1903 with an unsuccessful outcome. It was not only until the late 1920s when the political and socio-economic landscape seemed to give more opportunities of survival.

It was in mid-1928 when a group of entrepreneurs and government officials from Colombia and abroad organized the promotion of the Bogotá Stock Exchange (Sp. Bolsa de Bogotá) so they could establish the judicial and operational framework of the newly created organization. Former Minister of Economy and jurist Jorge Soto Del Corral composed the regulations of the new entity and on November 23 of 1928 the public title 1702 was signed and constituted the Bogota Stock Exchange as a public limited company. On May 6, 1929 the first board of trustees was elected.

In March 1929 the first 17 traders were assigned by Banking Superintendent Gonzalo Cordoba and on April 25 corporations and organizations registered their shares, this included banks, financial service companies, and manufacturing and commercial services corporations. Among the Bank of Colombia currently branded as Ban Colombia which is also an NYSE listed company and Scadta today known as Avianca. Bogotá Stock Exchange remained as Colombia's only stock trading organization until the 1950s when Medellín created its own Stock Exchange. This was particularly useful for the coffee trade since Colombia's coffee market's original birthplace is the Department of Antioquia. Cali created its stock exchange in the mid-1970s. During 2001 it became necessary to merge the three regional stock exchanges into what it is known today as Bolsa de Valores of Colombia (Stock Exchange of Colombia).

The 2008 economic crisis

Colombian economy was not isolated from the events of the global economy and its evolution has been similar to the regional one. There was a rapid decline on GDP, but also a rapid recovery, while social indicators have been slower to react, both on the contraction and the recovery and are not yet fully reflected by statistical data. National Government income was not heavily affected during the crisis, partially because of the privatization of public assets and nor did the general public budget or the allocation of resources to health and education. But a long-standing financial crisis on the health sector has forced the government to push forward reform proposals that might endanger the access to appropriate quality services for the population. There was no GDP contraction but an economic slowdown. While GDP grew 6.9% in 2007, 2008 growth was 3.5% and 2009 resulted in a pale 1.5%. The trend was reverted in 2010 when the economy grew 4.3% and preliminary data for 2011-1Q indicate a 5.1% expansion with regards to the 2010-1Q. The quick slowdown had a direct impact on unemployment. The strong economic result in the years prior to the crisis brought a historic achievement for Colombia: In November 2007, for the first time in more than a decade, Colombia experienced a one digit unemployment rate (9.8%). From that point on, the unemployment rate grew to a maximum of 13% in February 2010. 2011 unemployment rates are lower and consistent with GDP growth and it is expected to return to one digit rates by 2011-4Q. However, increasing unemployment during the crisis hit women more than men, especially the youth. According to own estimates, 214.000 women left the labor market during the fourth 2008-4Q, most of them between 18 and 26 years. The adverse results in GDP and unemployment, together with high inflation, slowed down advances in poverty reduction and pushed downwards net household incomes. In the meantime and as a result of the severity of the crisis in the most developed countries, international migration and remittances dynamics were altered. 

Available information suggests the negative net migration rate decreased, with smaller numbers of Colombians joining abroad communities and decreasing but unsteady flows of remittances. It is well established that remittances are being used in a large extent for covering basics needs (food, shelter, utilities), and savings are rather an uncommon use. Because of this, remittances play a key role in keeping many families above the poverty line and its suspension means immediate impoverishment. In the context of structural disparities, the negative impacts of the crisis were unequally felt. Due to its heavy dependence on remittances, Eje Cafetero region took the most direct impact of the international crisis in Colombia. The in-depth research in that region unveiled some powerful side effect that might not be evident when analyzing statistical data at a national level. Those effects, observed at a household scale, range from increased problematic family split-ups, and the loss of familiar investment due to increased overdue in mortgage payments to rising risks of early school dropouts and the suspension of prime quality medical insurances. Although the end of 2009 signaled an upturn in the trend towards recovery, continued by a strong 3.9% real GDP growth estimated for the world in 2010, global and regional economy is still far from restoring its pre-crisis dynamism. Three unfolding events will have negative impacts on the road to sustainable recovery: the crisis on the sovereign debt of European countries; the growing political turmoil in the Arab world and the consequent rise in oil prices; and the earthquake and tsunami in Japan with all the consequences it may bring to the third biggest economy in the world.

The Spanish arrived in 1499 and initiated a period of conquest and colonization ultimately creating the Viceroyalty of New Granada, with its capital at Bogotá. Independence from Spain was won in 1819, but by 1830 "Gran Colombia" had collapsed with the secession of Venezuela and Ecuador. What is now Colombia and Panama emerged as the Republic of New Granada. The new nation experimented with federalism as the Granadine Confederation (1858), and then the United States of Colombia (1863), before the Republic of Colombia was finally declared in 1886. Panama seceded in 1903.

Since the 1960s, the country has suffered from an asymmetric low-intensity armed conflict, which escalated in the 1990s, but then decreased from 2005 onward. Colombia is ethnically diverse, its people descending from the original native inhabitants, Spanish colonists, Africans originally brought to the country as slaves, and 20th-century immigrants from Europe and the Middle East, all contributing to a diverse cultural heritage. This has also been influenced by Colombia's varied geography, and the imposing landscape of the country has resulted in the development of very strong regional identities. The majority of the urban centres are located in the highlands of the Andes mountains, but Colombian territory also encompasses Amazon rainforest, tropical grassland and both Caribbean and Pacific coastlines. Ecologically, Colombia is considered one of the world's 17 mega diverse countries, and of these, the most bio diverse per square kilometer. Colombia is a middle power and a regional actor with the fourth largest economy in Latin America, is part of the CIVETS group of six leading emerging markets and is an accessing member to the OECD. Colombia has a diversified economy with macroeconomic stability and favorable growth prospects in the long run.

Famous People

The peso is the currency of Colombia. Its ISO 4217 code is COP and it is also informally abbreviated as COL$. However, the official peso symbol is $. The peso has been the currency of Colombia since 1810. It replaced the real at a rate of 1 peso = 8 reales and was initially subdivided into 8 reales. In 1847, Colombia decimalized and the peso was subdivided into ten reales, each of 10 décimos de reales. The real was renamed the decimo in 1853, although the last reales were struck in 1880. The current system of 100 centavos to the peso was first used in 1819 on early banknotes but did not reappear until the early 1860s on banknotes and was not used on the coinage until 1872. In 1871, Colombia went on the gold standard, pegging the peso to the French franc at a rate of 1 peso = 5 francs. This peg only lasted until 1886. From 1888, printing press inflation caused Colombia's paper money (pegged to the British pound at a rate of 5 pesos = 1 pound) to depreciate and the exchange rate between coins and paper money was fixed at 100 peso moneda corriente = 1 coinage peso. Between 1907 and 1914, coins were issued denominated in "peso p/m", equal to paper pesos. In 1910, the Junta de Conversion began issuing paper money and, in 1915, new paper currency was introduced, the peso oro. This was equal to the coinage peso and replaced the old peso notes at a rate of 100 old paper pesos = 1 peso oro. In 1931, when the U.K. left the gold standard, Colombia shifted its peg to the U.S. dollar, at a rate of 1.05 pesos = 1 dollar, a slight devaluation from its previous peg. Although it never appeared on coins, Colombia's paper money continued to be issued denominated in peso oro until 1993, when the word oro was dropped. Since 2001, the Colombian Senate has debated whether to redenominate the currency by introducing a new peso worth 1000 old pesos, in other words, to remove three zeroes from the value. Such a plan has yet to be adopted.

In 1886, the country's name reverted to the Republic of Colombia. The first issues were cupro-nickel 5 centavos. Except for silver 50 centavos (also denominated 5 décimos) issued between 1887 and 1889, no other denominations were issued until 1897, when silver 10 and 20 centavos were introduced. Silver 5 centavos were issued in 1902. In 1907, following the stabilization of the paper money, cupro-nickel 1, 2 and 5 pesos p/m were introduced and issued until 1916. In 1913, after the pegging of the peso to sterling, gold 2½ and 5 peso coins were introduced which were of the same weight and composition as the half sovereign and sovereign. Gold 10 pesos were also issued in 1919 and 1924, with the 2½ and 5 pesos issued until 1929 and 1930, respectively. In 1918, the 1, 2 and 5 pesos p/m coins were replaced by 1, 2 and 5 centavo coins of the same size and composition. In 1942, bronze 1 and 5 centavo coins were introduced, followed by bronze 2 centavos in 1948. Between 1952 and 1958, cupro-nickel replaced silver in the 10, 20 and 50 centavos. In 1967, copper-clad-steel 1 and 5 centavos were introduced, together with nickel-clad-steel 10, 20 and 50 centavos and cupro-nickel 1 peso coins, the 2 centavos having ceased production in 1960. In 1977, bronze 2 pesos were introduced. In 1984, production of all coins below 1 peso ended. Higher denominations were introduced in the following years of high inflation. 5 peso coins were introduced in 1980, followed by 10 pesos in 1981, 20 pesos in 1982, 50 pesos in 1986, 100 pesos in 1992, 200 pesos in 1994, 500 pesos in 1993 and 1000 pesos in 1996. However, due to massive counterfeiting problems, the 1000 pesos was withdrawn by stages. By 2002, the coin was out of circulation. In 2012, the Bank of the Republic of Colombia issued a new series of coins with the 500 and 1000 peso coins now struck as Bi-metallic coins.

In 1923, the Banco de la República took over paper money production and introduced notes denominated in peso oro. The first were provisional issues, overprinted on earlier notes of the Casa de Moneda de Medellín, in denominations of 2½, 5, 10 and 20 pesos. Regular issues followed for 1, 2, 5, 10, 50, 100, and 500 pesos oro. Twenty peso notes were introduced in 1927. In 1932 and 1941, silver certificates were issued for 1 and 5 pesos plata, although 1 and 5 peso oro notes continued to be produced. Treasury notes for 5 and 10 pesos oro were issued in 1938, followed by ½ peso oro between 1948 and 1953. Half peso oro notes were also produced by the Banco de la República in 1943 by cutting in half 1 peso notes. The Banco de la República introduced 200 and 1000 peso oro notes in 1974 and 1979, respectively, whilst 1 and 2 peso oro notes ceased production in 1977, followed by 10 pesos oro in 1980, 5 pesos oro in 1981, 20 pesos in 1983 and 50 pesos in 1986. Five-hundred pesos oro notes were introduced in 1986 with 10,000 pesos oro following in 1992. Production of 100 peso oro notes ended in 1991, followed by that of the 200 and 500 pesos oro in 1992 and 1993, respectively. From 1993, the word oro was dropped. Twenty thousand peso notes were introduced in 1996 and 50,000 pesos in 2000. On November 17, 2006, the 1,000 and 2,000 peso notes were reduced in size from 140 × 70 mm to 130 × 65 mm, because these notes are frequently replaced due to heavy use. On December 28, 2010, the Banco de la República issued a 2,000 peso note that now includes the number "2" expressed in Braille in the watermark area.[5] In 2016, the Banco de la Republica is set to issue a new family notes in denominations of 2,000-, 5,000-, 10,000-, 20,000-, 50,000 and 100,000 pesos, with the latter being the newest denomination. The new family of banknotes gives continuity of biodiversity present in the family of coins that began circulating in 2012 while highlighting a group of cultural elements and landscapes of Colombia's geography which have become symbols of its wealth, variety and creativity. Additionally, the notes pay tribute to major characters of the country's culture, science, and politics, and reinforces recognition of women's role in Colombian society.