WSE was organized from its inception as a modern stock exchange, supported by electronic trading and dematerialized registration of securities, laying a foundation for ongoing development. WSE held its first trading session on April 16, 1991 with five listed companies, all of which were formerly State-owned companies that had been privatized.

In 1999, Poland reformed its pension system, which contributed to an increase in domestic institutional investment, and in 2004 it joined the EU. These developments helped to boost trading volume in subsequent years.

1817
The first stock exchange in Warsaw opened on 12 May 1817. Trading sessions were held between 12:00 and 13:00. In the 19th century, mostly bonds and bills were traded on the Warsaw exchange. Trading in stocks developed more broadly in the second half of the 19th century. Between the first and the second world war, exchanges in Poland operated under the President’s Ordinance on the organisation of exchanges. In addition to the Warsaw exchange, there were stock exchanges in Katowice, Kraków, Lvov, Łódź, Poznań, and Vilnius. However, the Warsaw stock exchange was of primary importance as it accounted for more than 90% of the total trading.

1938
In 1938, there were 130 securities traded on the Warsaw exchange: government, bank, and municipal bonds, mortgage bonds, as well as shares. The Warsaw stock exchange closed with the outbreak of the second world war.

1945
While attempts were made to reactivate exchanges in Poland after 1945, yet their operation was alien to the imposed system of centrally planned economy.

1989
In September 1989, the new non-Communist government began a programme of systemic transition and recreation of a market economy. The structural transition was mainly driven by privatisation and growth of the capital market. Different to the experience of other countries where privatisation proceeded within the existing structure of financial institutions, privatisation in Poland had to be accompanied by the development of the necessary capital market infrastructure. A fifty-year interval in the operation of the Polish capital market created a legal and institutional vacuum. In practice, this implied lack of experience and professional expertise, but also offered great opportunities for growth. While several alternatives were considered, the decision was made to build directly upon the models of foreign capital markets, by transposing modern legal regulations and organisational solutions. The on-going standardisation and globalization of the world capital markets did not give much chance to original local models. The adopted option had the advantage of accelerating the process and implementing the target solutions.

1990
Detailed procedures of modern exchange trading were prepared within months thanks to the substantive and financial contribution of France offered via SBF (Société de Bourses Françaises) and the central depository SICOVAM. Legal regulations had to be drafted from scratch as a key element of the emerging capital market. The first draft law regulating public trading in securities was prepared in July 1990.

1991
The Parliament adopted the Act on Public Trading in Securities and Trust Funds on 22 March 1991. This laid down the legal basis for the main institutions of the capital market: brokerage houses, the stock exchange, trust funds, and the Securities Commission as a governmental agency controlling and promoting the securities market. The Act provided that the stock exchange should ensure:

• concentration of supply of and demand for securities admitted to exchange trading with a view to shaping a common price;
• security and efficiency of transactions and settlements;
• dissemination of uniform information enabling the assessment of the current value of securities admitted to exchange trading.

Less than a month after the Sejm adopted the Act on Public Trading in Securities and Trust Funds, on 12 April 1991, the Minister of Ownership Transition and the Minister of Finance representing the State Treasury signed the founding deed of the Warsaw Stock Exchange. Four days later, on 16 April, the first trading session in the stocks of five companies was held with the participation of seven brokerage houses: 112 buy and sell orders were placed and the total value of trading was PLN 1,990 (US$ 2 thousand).

2010
Since 9 November 2010, GPW is a public company listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

2017
FTSE Russell has announced the upgrade of Poland from Emerging Market to Developed Market status on 29 September 2017. The decision will be effective in conjunction with the FTSE Global Equity Index Series semi-annual review in September 2018. Poland has joined the 25 most developed economies of the world including Germany, France, Japan, Australia and USA. Poland is the first Central and Eastern European economy to be upgraded to Developed Market status.
Today the Warsaw Stock Exchange is the biggest securities exchange in Central and Eastern Europe and organises trade on one of the most dynamically growing capital markets in Europe. GPW operates a regulated market of shares and derivative instruments and the alternative stock market NewConnect for growing companies. GPW also develops Catalyst, a market for issuers of corporate and municipal bonds, as well as energy markets.

2018
The updated development strategy of the GPW Group #2022. Strategy was based on building shareholder value through the development of existing business lines and new segments at sustained profitability levels combined with risk management discipline.
The strategy update focused on four areas of development of the GPW Group:

• core business development
• development through diversification and new business areas
• development of new technological solutions
• ustained attractive dividend policy

2021
The Warsaw Stock Exchange Group (GPW Group) adopted the “GPW Group ESG Strategy 2025” which set out sustainable development ambitions and goals for 2022-2025. The Strategy defines the key directions of ESG and sustainable development actions for all companies of the GPW Group. By implementing the ESG Strategy, the GPW Group wants to make a positive contribution to the achievement of the 17 Global Sustainable Development Goals 2030 defined by the United Nations.

2023
GPW Group development strategy 2023-2027. Strategy focuses on three pillars of growth of the GPW Group:

• trading
• data and technology
• new business models

The Strategy also provides for the implementation of a range of optimisation initiatives focused on improving operational efficiency. Between 2023 and 2027, the GPW Group will continue to transform its operating model to gradually improve cost efficiency. According to the Strategy, the GPW Group will keep up its acquisition potential.