The phrase big bang, used in reference to the sudden deregulation of financial markets, was coined to describe the Thatcher government's 1986 abolition of the distinction between stockjobbers and stockbrokers on the London Stock Exchange.

The change in the rules of the London Stock Exchange occurred on 27 October 1986. The Big bang was so called because the abolition of fixed commission charges precipitated a complete alteration in the structure of the market. One of the biggest alterations to the market was the change from open-outcry to electronic, screen-based trading.

Other reforms were enacted at the same time, and it was the aggregation of the measures plus the expected increase in market activity that led to the event being called the big bang.

Subsequent similar actions, such as the deregulation of the Japanese financial markets in 2001, have inevitably also been tagged with the phrase big bang.

External links

• Effects of Japan's Financial Big Bang on Consumers

ビッグバン (金融市場)