Two hundred years ago. At the time, the Netherlands had just been liberated from the Napoleonic days. Our economy was in really bad shape. Not much was left of our Golden Age.
–  Provided reliable investment choices to investors. –  Lengthened the yield curve as benchmark for pricing other financial products. –  Facilitated development of other financial market facilities including infrastructure bonds which have been tapped to finance mortgage facilities and long term development projects. b.