Gone Fiche-ing!

In the darkest depths of the FSL storeroom there are two large, and very dusty, filing cabinets filled with a wealth of information about the financial markets.  The cabinets contain thousands upon thousands of microfiche copies of London Stock Exchange data.

One set contains the Daily Official Listings of all the securities held by the LSE.  A slide for each day from January 1982 to December 2003.  Similar to the information printed daily in the Financial Times.  The other cabinet contains information on all companies listed (or previously listed) on the LSE.  As well as any announcements they have made.  These include Annual Reports, Dividend announcements, M&A announcements, change of name, change of directors, etc. etc. and cover a similar range of dates.

We have estimated that there are around 74,000 microfiche in these drawers; containing Daily Official Listings for over 6,000 days; and company listings for around 2,500 global organisations.

Unfortunately, our microfiche reader (previously seen in a school library circa 1985) no longer works and only serves as a glorified paperweight!  Though new ones are available to purchase.

For all you millennials out there who have no idea of what we’re referring to – have a look at the attached pictures (or ask your parents!).