So, you know that the NYSE was started by a bunch of guys on the edge of town under a tree? The key was they were located at the heart of the business district, where the transactions were occurring. This has been true and crucial since the early days of &quot;finance&quot;, since back in medieval and Renaissance times when merchant houses (as in &#x27;establishments&#x27;, not actual buildings) exchanged debt and eventually stock.<p>As to the US stock market being &quot;fairly transparent and not run by the whims of the government&quot;, check your history man. The US stock market has seen some crazy wild, stock manipulation, insider trading, government manipulating, bucket shop, boiler room, &quot;oops, we have too much paper to process so shut the whole thing down&quot; days.<p>And, I should add, those days aren&#x27;t over. The mess is still all there, it&#x27;s just much more sophisticated and comes with a better staffed and better funded marketing department.