Why is the National Bank listed on the Stock Exchange?
For historical reasons. When the National Bank was set up in 1850, the legislature gave it the form of a public limited liability company. The private banks which had hitherto had the right to issue banknotes owned the capital of the National Bank. The shares were later introduced on the stock exchange. In 1948 the capital was increased and, since then, the State has owned half of the shares. The other half is owned by the public. Any investor is entitled to acquire those shares.
The National Bank is not the only central bank to be listed on the stock exchange. On the eve of its entry into the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) there arose the question whether it could continue to operate in that way. Finding that the private shareholders were unable to influence the monetary tasks of the National Bank, the European Monetary Institute, the forerunner of the European Central Bank, did not object to the continuation of that situation.