This thesis addresses the historical reasons for how and why the London Stock. Exchange (LSE) has survived over 200 years as one of the world's leading exchange markets. The LSE has firmly ensconced itself in the United Kingdom's economy such that it is now synonymous with the City of London, the "very hub and engine of the UK's economy. Indeed, the study investigates why the LSE encapsulates a living history relating not only to the past bllt also the present and future. Why has it persisted with time? To answer these qllestions the thesis draws upon the three schools of new institutionalism, namely : rational choice; sociological and historical through the critical theory paradigm of inquiry and hermeneutics. All three schools of thought seek to explain how institutions behave, and to explain institutional change and how institutional actors behave. Hermeneutics forms a mutual synthesis for understanding and a bridge between past and present through an engaged dialectic (or fusion of horizons). The 1986 'Big Bang' brought forth the biggest reforms in the LSE's history. The reforms opened the doors to the public, of an institution that had been a private gentlemen's club for over one hundred and eighty-five years. Due to the boom that followed, the LSE lost control of its markets and numerous corporate scandals followed. Thee LSE has already lost most of its powers to the FSA. Furthermore the LSE's global dominance over international securities is now under threat from the NYSE-Euronext merger. NASDAQ has raised its stake in LSE to 28.75% to make it its biggest shareholder. A takeover or merger with NASDAQ seems inevitable. What then is the future for the LSE? This thesis argues that through a study of the LSI's past one can understand its present circumstances and to a certain extent its future. The LSE is after all a living history.