In order to talk about stock market, the term stock must be defined. Stock shares serve companies as a source of financing an addition to financing with debt instruments or retained earnings. Legally, shareholders own a stake in the company. Shareholders are entitled to a share in the issuers profit, in dividend payments, after interst is paid to bondholders and after taxes are paid. Shareholders are also entitled to residual claims on the companyes assets if the company goes bankrupt or splits after all debts and tax liabilities. The market is where supply and demand meet. The place where stocks are traded are stock exchanges, or online platforms for trading securities. Markets are divided into primary and secondary markets, newly issued shares are traded on the primary markets, while further trading is carried out on the secondary markets. These secondary markets are mostly stock exchanges. Among the most famous stock exchanges in the world are the New York Stock Exchange, the London Stock Exchange and the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The Croatian stock market is represented by the Zagreb Stock Exchange (ZSE). ZSE as an institution was founded in Zagreb in 1991 and is one of the most influential stock exchanges in the region. The main index of the Zagreb Stock Exchange is CROBEX, which includes between 15 and 25 shares of various companies from the Republic of Croatia. Supervision of financial institutions in Croatia is carried out by the Croatian Financial Services Supervisor y Agency (HANFA).