Cotation Assistée en Continu (CAC) was an electronic trading system used at the
Paris Bourse, the
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
stock exchange
A stock exchange, securities exchange, or bourse is an exchange where stockbrokers and traders can buy and sell securities, such as shares of stock, bonds and other financial instruments. Stock exchanges may also provide facilities for th ...
, in the 1980s and 1990s. It was introduced in 1986 for trading less liquid equities, and in 1989 it was operational for all listed stocks. The acronym is also used to refer to the
CAC 40
The CAC 40 (french: CAC quarante ) (''Cotation Assistée en Continu'') is a benchmark French stock market index. The index represents a capitalization-weighted measure of the 40 most significant stocks among the 100 largest market caps on the E ...
, a stock index provided by the Paris Bourse. Curiously, the acronym also fits the name of the early Parisian stockbrokers' association, the "Compagnie des Agents de Change". The CAC system was a version of an earlier system developed by the
Toronto Stock Exchange in the mid-1970s:
CATS (Computer Assisted Trading System). In the early 1990s, the Paris Bourse developed an upgraded technology known as
NSC (Nouveau Système de Cotation), which served as a technological platform for the
Euronext initiative. The Paris Bourse became
Euronext Paris
Euronext Paris is France's securities market, formerly known as the Paris Bourse, which merged with the Amsterdam, Lisbon, and Brussels exchanges in September 2000 to form Euronext NV. As of 2022, the 795 companies listed had a combined marke ...
in 2000.
CAC, like CATS, was an order-driven market platform that handled the process of
order matching and price setting through a
double auction algorithm. It allowed for a full automation of quotation in a centralised, order-driven exchange.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cotation Assistee En Continu
Stock exchanges in Europe
Former electronic trading platforms
1986 software