The Borsa Italiana S.p. A., based in Milan, is Italy's main stock exchange. It was privatised in 1997, and was acquired by the London Stock Exchange in October 2007.

Borsa Italiana has managing responsibility for Italy's derivatives markets and its fixed income market.

Milan's Borsa di Commercio (Commodities Exchange) opened under a vice-royal decree on 16 January 1808 and it operated under public ownership until 1998.

It was sold to a consortium of banks, and operated under a S.p. A. holding company between January 2, 1998 and an all-share takeover by the London Stock Exchange on October 1, 2007.

Image: Italian stock market Borsa. | Photograph: Paco Serinelli/AFP/Getty Images