Specific features of the emerging of the czech capital markets

Focus is made on the historical circumstances of the arising of the Czech capital markets. Transformation from state-owned enterprises to private businesses and corporations, via coupon (or voucher) privatization, i.e. distribution of shares to a large number of small shareholders, required a tailor made capital markets. Two competitive project were launched: Prague Stock Exchange and RM-System. As investment funds collected investment vouchers and become important shareholders, large packages of shares were formed and new majority shareholders stepped into their rights and powers. The transfer of ownership finished, public markets lost their broad clientele and had to reduce number of titles traded substancially. Todays capital markets in the Czech Republic are mostly OTC markets, with some contribution of public markets (RMS and PSE), of which more important is the Prague Stock Exchange. The latter is still not fully functional - there has not been any important public offering so far.

Keywords: ownership, voucher privatization, Czech capital markets, Prague Stock Exchange, large-scale privatization, RM-System, coupon privatization, Czech investment funds, investment vouchers