Actually modern finance has its roots in the coffee houses of London, circa 1650.

http://www.history.co.uk/study-topics/history-of-london/lond...

These were the meeting places in which the maritime insurance deals were made at a time of increasing maritime exploration by the British. These also evolved to be the places such materials were bought and sold - and in fact the trading pits were (and in some cases are) based on these gathering locations.

It's interesting to visit the London Metal Exchange which although computerised has the trader pit (complete with circular sofa) in which trades are still conducted between traders.

In an interesting turn of fate the very docks that the traders made possible subsequently collapsed with the introduction of container shipping and ships which were too large to navigate the Thames, and pushed shipping ports to the periphery of the country. In an ironic twist of fate these docks then became the Docklands and home to London's financial district.

Right up until Brexit, when the financial centre was destroyed by petty minded little England, ending four hundred years of global outlook for the sake of believing in lies.