Ohio has 1,498 broker-dealers organizations with 3,634 employees; 488 investment advisory organizations do business in the state. Ohio provides headquarters for 160 NASDAQ-listed companies, 9 NASDAQ market makers, 19 AMEX-listed companies, and has incorporated 68 NYSE-listed companies. The most important revenue makers are: Kroger, Proctor & Gamble, Cardinal Health, TRW, Inc., and Goodyear Tire and Rubber Corp.
The Cincinnati Stock Exchange (CSE) was organized on 11 March 1885 by 12 stockbrokers who agreed to meet regularly to buy and sell securities. In the mid-1990s, the Cincinnati Stock Exchange moved to Chicago and ceased operations in Ohio.
The Ohio securities marketplace is overseen by the Ohio Division of Securities of the Ohio Department of Commerce. The division provides investor protection, enhances capital formation, and protects the integrity of the securities marketplace by administering and enforcing the Ohio Securities Act, which was enacted in 1913. It requires that all securities sold in Ohio be registered with the division or properly exempted from registration and requires that each person transacting business in securities in Ohio be licensed by the division. It also imposes anti-fraud standards in connection with the sale of securities.