The Buttonwood Agreement, which takes place on May 17, 1792, starts the New York Stock & Exchange Board now called the New York Stock Exchange.

This agreement, signed by twenty four brokers outside of 68 Wall Street New York under a buttonwood tree, sets a floor commission rate charged to clients and binds the signers to give preference to the other signers in securities sales.

Previously securities exchange had been intermediated by the auctioneers who also conducted more mundane auctions of commodities such as wheat and tobacco.

The earliest securities traded are mostly governmental securities such as War Bonds from the Revolutionary War and First Bank of the United States stock, although Bank of New York stock is a non-governmental security traded in the early days.

The Bank of North America along with the First Bank of the United States and the Bank of New York are the first shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange.